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 'ivH^yz^ 
 
ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM, 
 
 BY 
 
 BAPTIST W. NOEL, M.A. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY JOHN DOWLINa, D. D. 
 
 EDWARD H. FLETCHER, 
 
 141 NASSAU-STREET, 
 1850. 
 
Enterkp, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 
 
 EDWARD H. FLETCHER, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Sonthem District of New 
 
 Yorlc. 
 
 PRINTED BY EDWARD O. JENKINS, 
 
 114 Nassau-st., New- York. 
 
ix^^ O 
 
 INTRODUC TION 
 
 TO THE AMERICAN EDITION, 
 
 The history of the Church of Christ upon earth has 
 generally been a commentary upon that remarkable decla- 
 ration which the Apostle Paul made to the church at Cor- 
 inth eighteen hundred years ago: " Ye see your calling, 
 brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not 
 many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath 
 chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the 
 wise : and God hath chosen the weak things of the world 
 to confound the things which are mighty : and base things 
 of the world, and things which are despised, hath God 
 chosen, yea and things which are not, to bring to nought 
 things that are, that no flesh should glory in his pres- 
 ence." 
 
 The names of Nicodemus, the member of the Sanhe- 
 drim, of Crispus and Sosthenes, chief rulers of the syn- 
 agogue, of Erastus, chancellor of Corinth, and of the 
 " Saints of Cesar's household," arc sufficient to prove 
 that in primitive times there were at least a few individ- 
 uals of rank and station, who were content to bear " the 
 reproach of Christ," and to identify themselves with the 
 followers of the despised Nazarene. These, however, 
 
 r 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 were but exceptions. They were " the common peo- 
 ple" who heard the Saviour gladly, and the great mass of 
 genuine believers has ever consisted of the same class. 
 The rule in every age has been, " Not many mighty, not 
 many noble." 
 
 The fact that the annals of genuine Christianity supply 
 so few names, distinguished by the honors of illustrious 
 birth, or adorned by the titles of earthly nobility, has per- 
 haps tended pre-eminently to fix the public eye upon those 
 few, as in successive ages of the church, they have ap- 
 peared upon the theatre of the world's history, casting 
 themselves at the foot of the cross, laying their honors, 
 and riches, and influence upon the altar of consecration 
 to Christ and his cause, and thus proving the power and 
 efficacy of that sovereign grace, which can lead even the 
 rich and the noble to " count all things but loss for the ex- 
 cellency of the knowledge of Christ." It was once re- 
 marked in relation to that godly and devoted lady, Selina, 
 Countess of Huntingdon, in allusion to the passage " not 
 many noble," &c. — " what a precious letter that letter m 
 is !" And it should be matter of devout gratitude to God 
 that there are not wanting noble men and women of the 
 present day, not only in the island of Great Britain, but 
 on both the eastern and western continents, illustrious in 
 birth, or rank, or station, who have consecrated themselves 
 and their all to Christ, and who thus prove that while the 
 voice of inspiration declares that " not 7namj mighty, not 
 many noble are called," it is not and cannot be said that 
 there are not any. 
 
 Not that we would, in these remarks, by any means 
 intimate that the most illustrious nobles, or even the 
 mightiest monarchs, or the profoundest statesmen, or the 
 wisest judges, or governors, or Presidents, stoop from their 
 elevated positions, or perform an act of condescension. 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 when they identify themselves with the followers of Christ, 
 stand at the foot of his cross, and yield themselves 
 up to be his subjects and his servants. So far is this from 
 being true, that there is no earthly station which can add 
 lustre to Christianity. " A Christian is the highest style 
 of man," and — however noble may be a man's birth, how- 
 ever elevated his rank, however extensive his attainments, 
 however exalted his talents — instead of conferring honor 
 upon Christianity by embracing it, he is himself honored 
 by the privilege of wearing its livery and enlisting under 
 its banner. A man may climb the very pinnacle of wealth 
 like Rothschild, or he may attain to the peerage like 
 Gainsborough, the brother of our author, or he may even 
 win an imperial crown like Napoleon ; and the angels in 
 heaven shall feel no interest, nor strike one note of joy ; 
 but let him become a Christian, and there is joy in the 
 presence of the angels of God ; let him choose as Moses 
 did, and as Baptist Noel has, " rather to suffer affliction 
 with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin 
 for a season," and angels and all the good shall look upon 
 him as one of Heaven's true nobility — the friend, the fol- 
 lower, the "joint-heir" with HIM, "who, though he was 
 rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his pov- 
 erty might be rich." 
 
 Yet still is it true, that when earthly honors are despis- 
 ed, and costly sacrifices are made for the kingdom of 
 God's sake and the Gospel's, such self-abnegation is to be 
 regarded as illustrious evidence of the reality of Christian 
 principle, and the | ower of Christian faith. If Moses re- 
 fused the honors o! a palace, and " esteemed the reproach 
 of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt," his 
 conduct is to be attributed to the power of faith — he " en- 
 dured, as seeing him who is invisible;" and thus did he 
 worthily win that illustrious jslace which inspiration has 
 5* 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 awarded him in the noble gallery of the ancient heroes of 
 faith. Thus, also, was the Apostle Paul, who recorded 
 these glorious illustrations of faith, himself actuated by 
 the same principle, when he said, " What things were 
 gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubt- 
 less, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency 
 of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I 
 have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but 
 dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not 
 having mine own righteousness, which is of the Law, 
 but that which is through the faith of Christ, the right- 
 eousness which is of God by faith : that I may know him, 
 and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of 
 his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." 
 Thus, too, did he exhibit the power of the same glorious 
 principle, when with " bonds and afflictions " awaiting 
 him, and a martyr's death staring him in the face, he 
 could say — " None of these things move me, neither 
 count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish 
 my course with joy, and the ministry which I have re- 
 ceived of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace 
 of God." 
 
 The remarkable history of the honorable and reverend 
 author of the following "Essay on Christian Baptism " af- 
 fords a striking proof that the martyr spirit has not yet left 
 the church, and that the faith which actuated a Moses and 
 a Paul may still find illustrious exemplifications among the 
 living servants of God. 
 
 It is difficult for an American, born and educated as he 
 has been in a ]a,nd free from the curse of a state religioDj 
 and where all denominations of Christians are, in the eye 
 of the law, regarded as upon an equality, to form an ade- 
 quate conception of the state of society that is produced by 
 a pampered and royally endowed religious establishment ; 
 
INTRODUCTION. VII 
 
 of the contempt that is felt by the great body of a purse- 
 proud and ungodly titled aristocracy, for the few evangel- 
 ical clergy to be found within the pale of the Establish- 
 ment ; and the worse than contempt — the utter scorn and 
 derision — with which nearly all who glory in their an- 
 cient lineage or noble blood, regard the whole body of the 
 dissenters, both clergy and laity. It is true that the 
 church becomes a convenient home, because it affords a 
 convenient and princely stipend for many of the younger 
 sons of the nobility of England ; but as might be expected 
 these young noblemen are generally godless and graceless, 
 while many of them are devoted to the most dissipating 
 pleasures and the most degrading vices. So far from devo- 
 tion to the pleasures of the chase, the ball-room, the thea- 
 tre, or the card-table being considered by the great body 
 of England's nobility as incompatible with the sacred of- 
 fice, all these are regarded by them only as innocent rec- 
 reations, and that clergyman is often, in these circles, 
 the most popular, who will hunt the most recklessly in the 
 chase, or play the most skillfully at the card-table, or dance 
 the most gracefully in the ball-room, or laugh the most 
 boisterously at the buffooneries of the stage. 
 
 Should a young nobleman who has entered the church 
 renounce the pomps and vanities of the world, become 
 devotedly pious, and resolve in his preaching, to " know 
 nothing among men save Christ and him crucified," he 
 must expect to have the finger of scorn pointed at him by 
 his former associates — perhaps by his own relations — and 
 to be branded as a Methodist, a hypocrite, and a fanatic ; 
 and all this, though he may yet retain his connection 
 with the Church of England, and continue to perform the 
 duties of a clergyman of the Establishment. The specta- 
 cle has been so very seldom exhibited, of a member of 
 the titled nobility of England not only renouncing the 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 vanities of the world and becoming a faithful evangelical 
 minister of Christ within the Establishment, but eventu- 
 ally, like Baptist Noel, following out his conscientious 
 convictions, and braving " the world's dread laugh," by 
 uniting with the despised dissenters ; that it is difficult to 
 conceive the degree of contempt and scorn and derision 
 with which he would probably be treated by his former 
 associates and kindred, many of whom would consider 
 their very order disgraced by so shameful and degrading 
 a secession. Henceforth, he must be content to be placed 
 under the ban of exclusion from the circles of the titled 
 and privileged classes, and be looked upon, hke his blessed 
 Master, as a madman or an enthusiast, " the filth and the 
 offscouring of all things." Even his family must be 
 sharers in his disgrace, and his children, though before 
 they might have aspired to alliances with England's titled 
 families, must now be content to share in their father's 
 fortunes, and to move in the circles which he has volun- 
 tarily chosen. Happy for them if they, too, learn to 
 " count all things but loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ !" The degree of mortification and 
 contempt to be endured by a Christian minister who shall 
 pass through such an ordeal, in a state of society such 
 as that which exists in England, is scarcely exceeded by 
 that of the converted Brahmin of India, who, like Krishnoo 
 Pal, voluntarily renounces caste, and gives up all his 
 worldly prospects, by publicly embracing Christianity, and 
 treading in the footsteps of Christ, by being " buried with 
 him in Baptism." 
 
 The foregoing remarks may aid the American reader 
 in forming some adequate conception of the obloquy and 
 reproach which has been endured — cheerfully and joyful- 
 ly endured — for the sake of God and of truth, by the 
 Honorable and Rev. Baptist W. Noel, the pious and dis- 
 
INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 tinguished author ot the following treatise, ot whom we 
 shall now present a brief biographical sketch : 
 
 Baptist Wriothesley Noel, is the son of 'Sir Gerard 
 Noel, Baronet, and Lady Barham, who was the only child 
 of Lord Barham, a peer of the realm. Through his father, 
 he is a descendant in regular lineal succession, from the 
 fourth Duke of Hamilton, who was Sir Gerard's great- 
 grandfather. It will be seen, therefore, that he is con- 
 nected through both his parents, with the flower of North 
 Britain's nobility. The title of honorahle, which is usu- 
 ally prefixed to his name, is not, as American readers 
 might suppose, in consequence of some legislative or ju- 
 dicial station he has borne. This title, in Great Britain, 
 is not attached, as in America, to the names of judges or 
 members of Parliament, but is a prerogative of noble 
 birth, and is borne by the younger sons and the daughters 
 of peers and peeresses of the realm. Mr. Noel bears 
 this title as the son of Lady Barham, a peeress in her own 
 right. Her eldest son, and Baptist's eldest brother, has 
 succeeded his mother in the peerage, and is now the Earl 
 of Gainsborough. Our author is the sixteenth child, and 
 the eleventh son of his parents, and is now in his fifty- 
 fir?t year, having been born at Leithmont in Scotland, 
 July 10th, 1799. After graduating with distinction at 
 Cambridge University, and for a short time engaging in 
 the study of the legal profession, Mr. Noel became a sub- 
 ject of the regenerating grace of God ; and soon after 
 emerging from the dark night of conviction, into the 
 bright morning of conversion, resolved to devote himself 
 to the work of preaching the Gospel, was ordained as a 
 clergyman of the established Church of England, and in 
 1826 became the minister of St. John's Chapel, in Bed- 
 ford Row, the place of worship which has. in former 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 years, been favored with the evangehcal and faithful 
 preaching of the Rev. Thomas Scott, the commentator, 
 apd afterv^ards of the Rev. Richard Cecil, well known to 
 American readers by the valuable and popular volume of 
 his pithy and instructive " Remains.'' 
 
 The preaching of Mr. Noel has been so accurately de- 
 scribed by the acute and graphic pen of a well known 
 English author, that I cannot give a better idea of its 
 characteristic excellences than by borrowing a few sen- 
 tences from the " Metropolitan Pulpit," a work descrip- 
 tive of the most popular of the London clergy, published 
 in 1839. 
 
 " Mr. Noel's preaching," says that writer, " is eminently 
 evangelical. The distinctive doctrines of the gospel are 
 the topics on which he almost invariably dwells. The 
 fall of man, man's entire depravity, his utter inability to 
 help himself, the perfect worthlessness of the sinner's 
 fancied works of righteousness, the freeness, the fulness, 
 and sufficiency of the finished work of Christ, the neces- 
 sity that exists for the agency of the Holy Spirit, in or- 
 der effectually to apply that work to the soul, and the 
 claims of the gospel to holiness of heart as well as of 
 life, on all who profess to embrace it, are the grand 
 themes of his ministry. There is an unction in Mr. No- 
 el's preaching which is not often to be met with in the ser- 
 mons of other popular ministers in the metropolis, whether 
 ranging themselves under the banners of the Church, or 
 identifying themselves with the doctrines of Dissent. His 
 is emphatically the preaching of the heart. No one who 
 ever heard him deliver two consecutive sentences, could 
 resist this conviction. The bearing which every succes- 
 sive sentiment or statement he delivers has on the heart 
 and life, is perceived, the moment he has given it utter- 
 ance. I know of no preacher in the metropolis or out of 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 it, whose discourses are more adapted to instruct the mind 
 while they impress the heart. No man could sit any length 
 of time under the ministry of Mr. Noel, without becom- 
 ing conversant with the leading truths of the gospel. 
 These truths may be, and doubtless in many cases are, 
 rejected by those who statedly attend the preaching of Mr. 
 Noel ; but no one shall be in a condition to urge at a fu- 
 ture period, in extenuation of his guilt, that he was kept 
 in ignorance of the leading points of the Christian scheme. 
 I am convinced there is not a congregation in the metrop- 
 olis that, taken as a whole, have a clearer or more accu- 
 rate conception of the distinctive doctrines of the gospel, 
 than the congregation meeting in St. John's Chapel, Bed- 
 ford Row. No one can have heard the honorable and rev- 
 erend gentleman without being struck with the happy 
 blending of faithfulness with aflfection, which is visible in 
 his preaching. He emphatically ' warns every man ;' but 
 not in that stern spirit which has so strong a tendency to 
 steel the heart of one's hearers against the warnings given, 
 or against the reception of the truth ; but in the spirit of 
 meekness and of love. The hearer may, and doubtless 
 often does, disregard his warning voice ; bathe canotbar 
 his breast against the conviction, that the preacher is not 
 only in earnest, but that he is speaking from a heart over- 
 flowing with affection and compassion for sinners. 
 
 Mr. Noel's matter, as may be inferred from what has 
 been already stated, is always spiritual and practical. Ev- 
 ery sentence he utters tells on the spiritual state of his 
 hearers : its bearings on the solemn transactions of a judg- 
 ment-seat must be manifest to all. I have already said 
 there is an unction about his preaching which is not often 
 to be met with in that of our modern divines. His matter 
 is richly impregnated with divinity of the soundest, the 
 most salutary, and the most sanctifying kind. He excels 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in guarding his hearers against mistakes of a fatal kind, 
 in tlie momentous matters of the soul and eternity. He 
 holds, as it were, a mirror up to the eyes of all, — some of 
 them, it may be, making a great profession of religion, — 
 who are still in a state of estrangement from God, and living 
 therefore without any well-grounded hope for eternity. If 
 the hypocrite, or mere professor of any kind, does not dis- 
 cover the perils of his position under the preaching of Mr. 
 Noe, he must indeed be blind and stupefied by sin in a 
 very extraordinary degree. His manner is in happy 
 keeping with his matter. He is earnest and impassioned, 
 without anything in the shape of extravagant gesture. 
 There is much of earnestness in his dark piercing eye, 
 and the expression of his countenance generally ; while 
 the impression produced by his aspect is greatly deepened 
 by the tones of his voice. His voice is, I think, without 
 exception, the sweetest and most musical I ever heard, 
 either in the pulpit, at the bar, or in the senate. He al- 
 ways speaks in a sufficiently loud tone to be distinctly 
 heard without an effort by the eighteen hundred or two 
 thousand persons who constantly sit under his ministry. 
 I am satisfied that with Mr. Noel's rapid delivery and 
 lengthened sermons, — for they always exceed an hour, — 
 one of his discourses contains as great a quantity of mat- 
 ter as two of the sermons delivered by the generality of 
 our metropolitan Episcopal clergy. But, unusually length- 
 ened as are the honorable and reverend gentleman's dis- 
 courses, his hearers, so far from thinking them too long, 
 alwavs regret when he brings them to a conclusion. He 
 is a most pleasing as well as instructive and impressive 
 preacher. He is one of the few ministers whom one 
 could hear for hours in succession, without wishing they 
 were done. The moderate gesticulation which Mr. Noel 
 uses, principally consists in raising his right arm to a 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIU 
 
 height parallel with his face, and then making a gentle 
 motion with it. At times he lifts both arms contemporane- 
 ously. On such occasions his attitudes are usually both 
 graceful and striking. His eye moves alternately from 
 right to left of the area of the chapel, and his head now 
 and then leans very slightly to the left side. He uses no 
 paper ; neither does he write his sermons. He turns over 
 the leading points in his own mind before entering the 
 pulpit, and then trusts to his extemporaneous powers which 
 never yet, let me remark, failed him." 
 
 For twenty-two years, Mr. Noel continued the faithful 
 and affectionate pastor of the congregation of St. John's 
 Chapel, beloved and honored not only by his numerous 
 and attached flock, but by the pious and the good of every 
 name. Appointed Chaplain to Queen Victoria, and pos- 
 sessing favor in high quarters, there is no station of 
 honor or emolument in the British establishment to which 
 he might not have reasonably aspired, had he preferred 
 the honor that cometh from men, rather than that which 
 cometh from God. For many years previous to his pub- 
 lic secession from the established Church, which took 
 place in December, 1848, he had borne his bold and un- 
 compromising testimony against the errors that had be- 
 come rife in her communion. In the winter of 1842-3, 
 Mr. Noel gave a most noble public testimony against 
 some of the leading tractarian errors, which were just 
 then advocated with much zeal by Dr. Pusey and New- 
 man, at Oxford, by preaching a course of thirteen ser- 
 mons, which were soon collected and published in a 
 volume, upon " Regeneration, with especial reference to 
 the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration." The reader of 
 these sermons cannot but be struck with the boldness, 
 courage, and independence, with which the honorable and 
 reverend preacher opposes the anti-scriptural and semi- 
 2 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 popish doctrines of Oxford, and maintains tiie glorious 
 protestant doctrine of the Bible only as the ultimate rule 
 of faith. It is not surprising that after the publication of 
 these discourses, many churchmen should have declared 
 that Mr. Noel was a Dissenter at heart ; and although he 
 himself, probably thought at the time, that he was still a 
 very good churchman, yet, after reading the avowals 
 which he there makes of the spiritual nature of true reli- 
 gion, personal responsibility and accountability to God, 
 and the paramount authority of scripture above all tradi- 
 tion and above all church dogmas and church authority, it 
 required no great sagacity to predict that Mr. Noel could 
 not long continue in the Episcopal Church ; nor did it 
 need a prophet's ken to foretell, that if consistent with 
 himself, he could never stop short of that doctrine which 
 he has now embraced, and that communion which he has 
 now entered. The two peculiar and fundamental princi- 
 ples of the Baptists, are — the Bible only, and not tradi- 
 tion or church authority the rule of faith and practice — and 
 personal responsibility in matters of religion. The former 
 compels us to reject infant baptism, because it is not in 
 the scriptures ; the latter, because it interferes with the 
 personal responsibility of the sinner before God, and while 
 in the state of unconscious infancy, performs for him that 
 which the doctrine of personal responsibility requires 
 should be left to his own free choice when arrived at years 
 of understanding. The principles were plainly and boldly 
 avowed by Mr. Noel in 1843. It required the thought 
 and reflection of six years, to discover the consequences 
 of those principles, and to follow them out to their legiti- 
 mate result, by the rejection of Infant Baptism. 
 
 Two out of the thirteen discourses referred to, were in- 
 tended to prove that, " Baptismal Regeneration is not a 
 doctrine of the church of England." We trust our hon- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 ored brother will excuse ns, if we say that, however these 
 two discourses may have proved his love to his church 
 at that time, we have ever regarded them as by far the 
 weakest and most inconclusive of the series. In our view, 
 Baptismal Regeneration is a doctrine of the Episcopal 
 church, most plainly and unequivocally avowed in its Cat- 
 echism and service, for the Baptism of Infants ; and proba- 
 bly since a high judicial authority has recently decided 
 that Baptismal Regeneration is a recognized doctrine of 
 the Prayer-book, and of the Episcopal church, we may be 
 excused for saying that it is to us a matter of wonder, 
 how any conscientious Chri'stian minister who rejects this 
 anti scriptural doctrine, can continue in her communion. 
 In the mind of Mr. Noel, at the period referred to, there 
 seems to have been a kind of lurking suspicion that, after 
 all, it might be true that his church does teach the doc- 
 trine of Baptismal Regeneration, else why the necessity 
 that one of those discourses, and that, perhaps the most 
 satisfactory of the whole should be preached in order to 
 show that " the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration is 
 not to be received on church authority." In this dis- 
 course, Mr. Noel assumes that Baptismal Regeneration 
 cannot be the doctrine of the church of England, because 
 she holds, " that every ungodly person— baptized or not — 
 must undergo that great moral change, declared in Scrip- 
 ture to be a new birth," and in reference to this latter 
 doctrine he lays down the following principle, worthy of 
 being placed, side by side, with Chillingworth's famous 
 declaration, " The Bible only the religion of Protestants." 
 
 " But first 1 would most carefully guard you against the 
 idea, that because it is the doctrine of our Church, it is there- 
 fore in the least more established. It is established be- 
 cause it is the doctrine of the Word of God; and no au- 
 thority of this or any other Church can add in the least to 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the authority it deserves to exercise over our mind. If, on 
 the other hand, it should appear to any one not to be the 
 doctrine of our Church, it follows that the Church must 
 be in error ; the opinion of the Church cannot in the least 
 alter the doctrine of God's Word, and if that Word is plain 
 to every earnest reader, then, whatever may be the doc- 
 trine ESTABLISHED BY THE ChURCH OF ENGLAND, CONTRA- 
 RY TO THE Word of God, must be error. " 
 
 In the same sermon he says : 
 
 " These are times for both thought and action ; they are 
 times, in which the members of tlie Church are called to 
 act and think, as well as the ministers of the Church. — 
 They are times, in which a peculiar degree of responsi- 
 bility devolves upon the members of the Church ; and if 
 there be one description of work, which seems more im- 
 portant than another in our day, it is this — that we should 
 uphold the authority of God's Word in opposition to 
 
 ALL human authority. " 
 
 In the course of this sermon, Mr. Noel undertakes to 
 show that Churches of Christ have erred, that, therefore, 
 the Church of England may err, and if it could be shown 
 that Baptismal Regeneration, or any other doctrine con- 
 trary to Scripture were a doctrine of the Church, still it is 
 incumbent upon us to listen to the voice of the Scripture 
 rather than to the voice of the Church. These are his 
 words — 
 
 " If it be lawful for us, as the members of the Church of 
 England, to listen to the voice of the Church rather than 
 to the voice of Scripture, then it was right for the Gala- 
 tians to maintain their departure from the faith, because 
 they had the authority of their respective Churches for 
 doing so. If it be true, that we may appeal from any 
 doctrine of the Word of God, because a contrary doctrine 
 is supposed to be found in our Church, then each member 
 of the Greek Church may appeal from the Scriptures, for 
 the propriety of worshiping pictures or adoring saints ; 
 then every member of the Church of Rome may appeal 
 
INTRODUCTION. XVll 
 
 TO the authority of his Church, for the doctrine of purga- 
 tory, of invocation of saints, of auricular confession, of 
 prohibition of the Word of God, because that Church has 
 sanctioned it. Not only may they, but they must; and 
 thus the Word of God is to be set aside by human tradi- 
 tions. But they are not at hberty to do so ; and as the 
 Greek must protest against the authority of the Greek 
 Church, when it imposes on him the obhgation to adore 
 saints, and as the Roman Catholic must protest against 
 the authority of his Chur€h, the moment he finds that the 
 Word of God condemns its injunctions, so must each 
 member of the Church of England appeal from every 
 Church doctrine to the plain and explicit statements of 
 the apostles, and declare an undivided allegiance to 
 THE Word of God." 
 
 By the application of these genuine protestant principles 
 to the polity and doctrines of the Church of England, 
 Mr. Noel has been enabled, by the grace of God, to follow 
 truth to its legitimate result. He has discovered that the 
 doctrine of Scripture is that " Christ's kingdom is not of 
 this world," and as that scripture axiom is fatal to the ex- 
 istence of a national church in connection with the State, 
 he has come out from that corrupt establishment, and has 
 explained his reasons for this decisive step in his celebrated 
 work on " the Union of Church and State," which is at 
 once a monument of his own sincerity and industry, and 
 of the deep and all pervading corruption of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of England. He has also discovered 
 that Infant Baptism, though a doctrine of the Church of 
 England, is no more a doctrine of the Scripture than is 
 the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. He has there- 
 fore rejected it, and regarding himself as unbaptized, he 
 has been immersed upon a profession of his faith in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ,* in the John street Baptist chapel, 
 
 * It is interesting to observe the struggles of a noble and ingenuous mind, 
 in its gradual advancement from error to truth ; on the one hand, impelled 
 by love to the church of his choice, endeavoring to vindicate her fame from 
 2* 
 
XVm lNTRODUCTir>lV. 
 
 London, vvliere the venerahlo and Reverend J. IT. Evans, 
 himself a seceder from the Churcli of England, for 
 so many years preached a pure and unadulterated gospel ; 
 and he has recently succeeded Mr. Evans, as the pastor of 
 that church and congregation. Mr. Noel's reasons for 
 rejecting Infant Baptism, and embracing the sentiments 
 of the Baptists, are embodied in the following " Essay on 
 Christian Baptism," which is now presented to the Ameri- 
 can public. 
 
 The value of the work as a clear and luminous state- 
 ment of the Scripture doctrine of Baptism is enhanced 
 by the fact stated by the author in his preface, that it is 
 " an independent testimony to the exclusive right of be- 
 lievers to Christian baptism," written from the study of 
 the Scriptures alone, and the examination of Pedobaptist 
 authors, without the perusal of a single Baptist book or 
 tract. 
 
 the charge of unscriptural errors ; and on the other, compelled by the force 
 of truth to make admissions of the teachings of scripture, which are plainly 
 inconsistent with the doctrines of that church, and which honestly followed 
 out, led inevitably to the position Mr. Noel now occupies. Who would 
 suppose, that is unacquainted with Mr. Noel's preaching and writings, that 
 the Bentence which we here place on record, is taken from a sermon which 
 he preached seven years ago, on the 8th of January, 1843 } He is endeav- 
 oring — though in our opinion inconclusivelj' — to establish a presumptive ar- 
 gument that Baptismal Regeneration cannot be the doctrine of the prayer 
 book from the known opinions of the Reformers who compiled its formu- 
 laries. The language is essentially Bapti«t. Who can wonder that an hon- 
 est man like Mr. Noel, who could seven years ago see tlius far, should in 
 time become a Baptist ? Mr. Noel says : 
 
 " I have already endeavored to prove to you from various portions of the 
 Word of God, that the Scriptures uniformly require repentance and faith 
 to precede the baptismal rite; tliat in the early Church, the profession of 
 faith and repentance was ever required, as preliminary to baptism ; and 
 further, according to Scripture, ' whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is 
 born of God' — in other words, is regenerate ; and consequently, that the 
 early Church, guided by the apostles, required in its practice tliat regenera- 
 tion should precede baptism. Since our Reformers made Scripture their 
 exclusive authority in laying down doctrine, we might therefore at once an- 
 ticipate, that the doctrine which they would teach, would likewise be, that 
 regeneration should be required in order to the right reception of baptism." 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 The socond section of chapter the fifth advocates a 
 practice at variance with that of the great body of American 
 Baptists, in relation to communion with unbaptized per- 
 sons. In this portion of his book we cannot but think 
 that the amiable author has consulted the promptings 
 of his own kind and benevolent heart — glowing 
 with love to every disciple of Christ — rather than the 
 teaching and practice of Christ and his apostles, or the 
 natural consequences of principles laid down by himself. 
 If, to admit an unbaptized person to the table, says Mr. 
 Noel, were '- to sanction the neglect of baptism, he must 
 not be admitted." Upon this principle, if it stood alone, 
 American Baptists would be justified in their practice ; as, 
 in their opinion, the admission of unbaptized persons to 
 the table, does, more than anything else, tend to the neg- 
 lect of Christ's own ordinance of believer's immersion. 
 
 Again, Mr. Noel, in his excellent address, made at the 
 time of his baptism, said, " There is "no instance in the 
 New Testament of any person unbaptized, after the insti- 
 tution of Christian baptism by our Lord, coming to the 
 Lord's table. * * * Tliis has been so clearly seen by 
 the churches of Christ in general, that it is not only those 
 which are called Baptist churches, but all the churches, 
 who refuse to admit to the Lord's Supper, or into church 
 membership, any whom they consider to be unbaptized. 
 If a man — for instance, one of the Society of Friends — has 
 been a consistent Christian for years, has followed the 
 Lord diligently and zealously, has done good by his pen 
 and by his preaching, and is welcomed by all persons who 
 rejoice in seeing the work of the Spirit as a thorough 
 Christian, — if that person should come to recognise that 
 the sacraments are still obligatory, and that he should 
 come to the table of the Lord, there is no church that 
 would receive him unbaptized. Neither the Roman 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Catholic, nor the Anglican, nor the Presbyterian, nor the 
 Independent churches, would receive such an one, un- 
 baptized." 
 
 After reading the above extract, every candid mind 
 must see that it would be perfectly easy to show how ut- 
 terly inconsistent with Mr. Noel's own principles, 
 and the principles of Pedobaptists, as well as Baptists, 
 is the practice of mixed communion ; but as the limits of 
 a brief introduction forbid the discussion of this subject, I 
 can here do no more than refer the reader, who may de- 
 sire a satisfactory defence of the practice of Primitive 
 communion, as practised in the American and in many 
 of the English Baptist churches, to Booth's Vindication 
 of the Baptists, to Howell's elaborate work on Communion, 
 or to the brief but satisfactory tracts of Cone and Reming- 
 ton, on the same subject. 
 
 J. DOWLING. 
 
 Jfew York, 6 Perry st. 
 Dec. 3rd, 1849. 
 
3( r^ -aJ^ 
 
 -■• v'^ V y^- 
 
 PREFACE. ^ r-^- 
 
 During my ministry in the Establishment, 
 an indefinite fear of the conclusions at which I 
 might arrive led me to avoid the study of the 
 question of baptism ; but I felt obliged to exam- 
 ine honestly each passage of Scripture upon the 
 subject which came in my way, and the evi- 
 dence thus obtained convinced me that repent- 
 ance and faith ought to precede baptism. The 
 reasons assigned by the Anglican Catechism 
 why an infant should be baptized without re- 
 pentance and faith, are very unsatisfactory. 
 As soon, then, as I had settled my mind upon 
 the union of the churches with the state, I turn- 
 ed my attention to this question. Aware how 
 many are disposed to attribute any opinion 
 which contradicts their own to such a partial, 
 one-sided investigation as they practice them- 
 selves, I determined to form my judgment en- 
 tirely by the study of the Scriptures, and of 
 such authors as advocate the baptism of infants. 
 To that determination I have adhered. And 
 not having read a single Baptist book or tract, 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 I publish the following work as an independent 
 testimony to the exclusive right of believers to 
 Christian baptism. Undoubtedly, I might have 
 enriched its pages by an examination of the 
 able and excellent authors who have written on 
 the same side, and, by the use of their reason- 
 ings and researches, might have escaped some 
 of the errors of detail, into which it is possible 
 that, in the discussion of a question so extensive 
 and so complicated, I may have fallen ; but then 
 I should have lessened its value as an independ- 
 ent testimony. Several of the works with which 
 I have the misfortune to differ are written with 
 ability and with calmness, especially those of 
 Wardlaw and Leonard Woods, of Halley and 
 Godwin. Nothing can be better than the spirit 
 which pervades the volumes of Budd and Bick- 
 ersteth : if I dissent from their conclusions, I 
 gladly express my conviction of their honesty ; 
 and, while contending against one of the opin- 
 ions of pious Psedo-Baptists, I earnestly hope that 
 nothing may ever diminish the cordiality with 
 which we may act together in promoting the 
 cause of the Redeemer. 
 
 I assume in the following essay that the word 
 baptism means immersion, and that to baptize 
 is to immerse ; the evidence of which fact I 
 hope to adduce in a separate volume. 
 
LIST OF AUTHORS PvEFERRED TO. 
 
 Barnes, Commentary on the New Testament. 
 
 Bengel, Gnomon Novi Testament!. 
 
 Bickersteth, Treatise on Baptism. London, 1840. 
 
 Bloomfield, Greek Testament, Critical Digest. 
 
 Budd, Infant Baptism. London, 1841. 
 
 EUesley, Annotations on the Gospels. 
 
 Godwin, Christian Baptism. London, 1845. 
 
 Grotius, Amiotations. 
 
 Halley, The Sacraments. London, 1844. 
 
 Henry, Commentary on the Bible. 
 
 Archdeacon Hoare, Baptism. London, 1848. 
 
 Pool, Annotations on the Bible. 
 
 Scott, Commentary on the Bible. 
 
 Tracts for the Times, No. 67. 
 
 Wardlaw, Dissertation on Infant Baptism. Glas- 
 gow, 1846. 
 
 "Whitby, Commentary on the New Testament. 
 
 Woods, Lectm'cs on Infant Baptism. Andover, U. S., 
 1819. 
 
<i:^ o 
 
 
 ;-i *'- 
 
 *U 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 o e ^'-. 
 
 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Paga 
 
 I. The Commission to Baptize given in Matt., xxviii. . 9 
 II. The Baptism mentioned in the Commission is Bap- 
 tism in Water .^ 13 
 
 III. Baptism of perpetual Obligation 23 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Meaning of the Commission given to the Apos- 
 tles 26 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Baptism to be administered to none but Believers. 
 
 I. Meaning of the Commissiou.-- 48 
 
 II. Jewish Baptism 51 
 
 III. Baptism of John 54 
 
 IV. First Baptisms by the Disciples of Christ 65 
 
 V. Apostolic Baptisms. 
 
 Baptism of three thousand Converts at the Day 
 
 of Pentecost 66 
 
 Baptism of the Samaritans 74 
 
 Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch 79 
 
 Baptism of Paul 81 
 
 Baptism of Cornelius 83 
 
 Baptism of Lydia and her Household 84 
 
 Baptism of the Jailer of Philippi 85 
 
 Baptism of the Corinthians 88 
 
 Baptism of the Twelve Ephesians 88 
 
VIU CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 VI. The Nature and Effects of Baptism, as declared 
 
 in the New Testament 92 
 
 VII. The Practice of the Churches of the first Centu- 
 
 ries of the Christian Era affords Evidence that 
 Believers alone ought to be baptized 120 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Infant Baptism. 
 S^ct. I. General Considerations to show the Unlawful- 
 ness of Infant Baptism 126 
 
 II. Infant Baptism is not warranted by the Circum- 
 cision of Jewish Children 137 
 
 m. Promises to Parents and Children 189 
 
 IV. The Blessing pronounced by our Lord on Chil- 
 dren 212 
 
 V. The " Holiness" of the Children of Believers (1 
 
 Cor.,vii., 14) 220 
 
 VI. The Baptism of Households 227 
 
 VII. Silence of the New Testament respecting the 
 Baptism of the believing Children of Chris- 
 tians 232 
 
 VIII. Practice of the early Churches 241 
 
 IX. The Numbers who practice Infant Baptism 250 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Effects of Baptism 263 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Practical Inferences. 
 I. Reasons why Members of Psedo-Baptist Church- 
 es should be baptized 280 
 
 II. Reasons for Free Communion 287 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 A Form of Baptismal Self-dedication to God.. . 302 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 After our Lord's resurrection from the dead, and 
 shortly before his ascension to heaven, he addressed 
 to his apostles these solemn words : " All power is 
 given unto me in heaven and in earth : go ye there- 
 fore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatso- 
 ever I have commanded you : and lo, I am with you 
 alway, even to the end of the world," Matt., xxviii., 
 18—20. In an examination of the nature of Chris- 
 tian baptism this passage merits the earliest and most 
 attentive consideration, because it both records the 
 institution of baptism and declares its perpetuity. 
 To understand what baptism is, we must first ex- 
 amine carefully the terms of the law which renders 
 it obligatory. After we have examined the law it- 
 self, we may then consider the various comments 
 which inspired writers have pronounced upon it, and 
 gather whatever light we may be able from the prac- 
 tice of baptism, both before this enactment and after 
 it ; but our first duty is to examine the terms of the 
 law itself. 
 
 It has been said, indeed, that Christian baptism 
 was instituted before, because it is recorded that 
 " Jesus made and baptized disciples," John, iv., 1 ; 
 iii., 26. But this incidental mention of the fact of 
 baptism having been administered by the first dis- 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ciples can not amount to a perpetual law in the 
 churches. Four disciples only are mentioned as 
 having followed Christ : Andrew, Peter, Philip, and 
 Nathaniel, John, i., 40—43. Even these had not 
 received their call to leave their nets and follow him, 
 Matt., iv., 18. And it was with reference to a time 
 later than this that Luke records, " When it was 
 day he called unto him his disciples ; and of them 
 he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles,'- 
 Luke, vi., 13. So that these disciples baptized be- 
 fore they were ministers of Christ, and when they 
 were yet very imperfectly acquainted with the Gos- 
 pel. When Jesus began to preach, his instruction 
 exactly resembled that of John : " Jesus began to 
 preach and to say. Repent, for the kingdom of heav- 
 en is at hand," Matt., iv., 17. And it is probable 
 that when his disciples baptized, they did not bap- 
 tize unto the name of Jesus, as John did not baptize 
 unto his own name ; but that, like John, they bap- 
 tized in token of the repentance of the converts as 
 persons expecting the kingdom of heaven to be short- 
 ly set up. The idea that they were baptized by the 
 command of Jesus, as professing their faith in him 
 as Christ, is very improbable. For many were bap- 
 tized, John, iii., 26 ; iv., 1. If Jesus had command- 
 ed them all openly to confess that he was Christ, 
 how could he charge his apostles to conceal the fact 
 that he was Christ ? How can we understand the 
 following passage : " When Jesus came into the 
 coasts of Caesarea Phihppi, he asked his disciples, 
 saying. Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, 
 am ? And they said. Some say that thou art John 
 the Baptist ; some Elias ; and others Jeremias, or 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom 
 say ye that I am ? And Simon Peter answered and 
 said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 
 .... Then charged he his disciples that they should 
 tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ," Matt., 
 xvi., 13—16, 20. Either the apostles had wholly 
 ceased to baptize, or those who were baptized did 
 not profess their faith in Jesus as the Christ. More- 
 over, as the Pharisees knew that many had been 
 baptized (John, iv., 1), and assuredly learned the cir- 
 cumstances of those baptisms, if all the converts had 
 by the order of Jesus declared their faith in him as 
 Christ, how could the Jews come round about him 
 in the temple and say, " How long dost thou make 
 us to doubt ? If thou be the Christ, tell us plain- 
 ly," John, X., 24. The profession of the converts 
 by order of Jesus would have been certain and over- 
 whelming evidence that he claimed to be Christ, nor 
 could they either then or afterward have been in 
 want of any proof of that fact. See Matt., xxvi., 
 63—65 ; Luke, xxii., 66—71. There were, doubt- 
 less, proofs enough afforded that he was Christ by 
 the song of the angels, the visit of the Magi, the 
 testimony of John, the miracles which he MTought ; 
 but the question is, whether he so openly and so 
 constantly declared himself to be Christ that all men 
 knew his claims ; and if he did not then, whether 
 the baptism of his disciples could involve a profes- 
 sion of their faith in liim as Christ. To me it ap- 
 pears clear that they made no such profession ; and 
 that the baptism then administered by his disciples 
 was simply, like that of John, a baptism of repent- 
 ance, because the kinofdom of heaven was at hand. 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Let US further notice that there is no. statement 
 whatever that the twelve apostles, subsequently to 
 their appointment, ever baptized a single convert till 
 after the ascension of Christ. If they did so, still 
 there is no statement that this was by express com- 
 mand of our Lord, nor that it was meant to be a 
 perpetual law in his Church ; and even if this also 
 be assumed without proofs, still it remains certain, 
 as I think, that their baptism was essentially differ- 
 ent from the baptism enjoined by Christ before his 
 ascension, because it was not baptism unto the name 
 of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This 
 it could not be. Even the apostles of Christ, though 
 his chosen companions, and daily taught by his. own 
 lips, remained very ignorant of spiritual truths till 
 the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He 
 often reproved them for their unbelief^ Matt., xvi,, 
 6—12; xvii., 20; Mark, xvi., 14; Luke, xxiv., 
 21—25. When he told them that he should be 
 crucified, they could not comprehend it, Matt., xvi., 
 21-23; Luke, ix., 45; John, xvi., 17, 18; and 
 many truths, which they were to learn afterward, 
 did Jesus abstain from teaching them during his 
 ministry on earth, because they were not prepared 
 to receive them, John, xvi., 12. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, it can not be supposed that these apos- 
 tles, still so ignorant and so unbelieving, every where 
 consecrated men to the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost, associating with the Deity the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, as one with him in nature and glory, 
 and tlie Holy Spirit, who had not yet been poured 
 out, because Christ was not yet glorified, John, vii., 
 39. I am unable, therefore, to believe that Chris- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 tiaii baptism was instituted before the resurrection 
 of Jesus Christ ; and am compelled to examine his 
 commission as containing " the great law of Chris- 
 tian baptism," and " the chief authority for the con- 
 tinued practice of baptism in the Christian Church." 
 — Halle^j, 490, 493. 
 
 II. Next, it is necessary to settle another prelim- 
 inary question, i. e., whether the baptism spoken of 
 in Matt., xxviii., 1 9, refer to the body or to the mind. 
 Did our Lord command his ministers to baptize in 
 water or in the Spirit ? The following considera- 
 tions may enable us to determine that the general 
 opinion, which refers the word to material, and not 
 to spiritual baptism, is correct. 
 
 1 . When men are brought to believe in Christ, it 
 is necessary that they should profess their faith in 
 him openly, Matt., X., 32, 33 ; Rom.,x., 9, 10 ; Rev., 
 xxi., 8. Baptism unto the name of the Father, the 
 Son, and the Spirit, is such a profession, which is 
 therefore necessary to the Church, and, as such, is 
 here commanded. The objection that the baptism 
 of the Spirit, as being more important than water 
 baptism, must be here understood, has the less force 
 when we consider that the spiritual baptism is in- 
 volved in the discipleship which is previously men- 
 tioned. All believers are baptized in the Spirit at 
 the time of their conversion to God, John, i., 12, 13 ; 
 iii., 5 ; and, therefore, when our Lord commanded 
 his apostles to go and make disciples, he in effect com- 
 manded them to seek for them by prayer and preach- 
 ing the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the next duty 
 was to lead them to confess Christ by baptism in wa- 
 ter. To object that baptism here can not mean wa- 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ter baptism, Decause the baptism of the Spirit is more 
 important, is no more sound than to affirm that when 
 our Lord said to his disciples, "Take, eat" (Matt., 
 xxvi,, 26), he could not mean the sacramental bread, 
 because it is so much more important to eat his flesh 
 spiritually by faith, John, vi., 53—55. Assuredly the 
 baptism of the Spirit is more important, but the bap- 
 tism of water is not therefore unnecessary ; and un- 
 less we are prepared to discard the Lord's Supper as 
 unworthy of Christ, we must maintain the rite of 
 baptism to be worthy of him. If symbolic acts are 
 unsuitable to our spiritual religion, we should not eat 
 the Lord's Supper ; if, on the contrary, they are suit- 
 able to it in any case, no symbolic act can be more 
 simple or more expressive than immersion. 
 
 This rite was indeed practiced by the apostles from 
 the beginning. Acts, ii., 38. But on what was their 
 practice founded ? They certainly did not introduce 
 will- worship into the churches : they enacted nothing 
 which was without Christ's authority. Now whence 
 did they derive this baptism of the converts ? The 
 baptism.s mentioned in John, iii. and iv., were not 
 unto the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spir- 
 it, nor even unto the name of Jesus as the Christ ; 
 nor did they afford any proof that Jesus meant them 
 to be universal in his churches, if, indeed, they con- 
 tinued beyond the first months of his ministry. Now 
 if these baptisms, incidentally mentioned and not ex- 
 pressly commanded, amount not to a law in the Chris- 
 tian Church, then there is no other law of baptism 
 than that contained in Matt., xxviii., and in Mark, 
 xvi. If these statements do not contain an injunc- 
 tion to baptize, then there is no command directing 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 the ministers of Christ to baptize ; there is no initia- 
 tory rite in the Christian rehgion ; there is no ap- 
 pointed mode by which a man shall at his conver- 
 sion individually confess Christ : a thing very diffi- 
 cult to credit. 
 
 It has been argued, that a law meant to be uni- 
 versally binding on the Church of Christ would have 
 been expressly recorded by all the Evangelists, where- 
 as Matthew alone has recorded it. But, indeed, 
 Mark has recorded a similar declaration of our Lord, 
 which involves it, Mark, xvi., 15,16. It is no more 
 surprising that John has omitted to record the insti- 
 tution of baptism than that he has omitted to notice 
 the institution of the Lord's Supper ; and if John 
 might omit it, why might not Luke ? If it may be 
 argued that this is no command to baptize in water 
 because Luke and John have not recorded it, we may 
 argue that he has not promised to be with his disci- 
 ples to the end of the world, because these two evan- 
 gelists are silent respecting it ; and deny that he has 
 given any promise of the Spirit to his Church, because 
 that promise is not noticed by the Evangelists Mat- 
 thew and Mark. See Luke, xxiv., 49 ; John, xx., 
 22. 
 
 When Paul declared that he was not sent to bap- 
 tize (1 Cor., i., 17), he referred to the words of his 
 special commission, recorded Acts, xxvi., 17, and the 
 reason why he rejoiced to have baptized but few Co- 
 rinthians, was that they could not suppose him to have 
 wished to form a Pauline party of those baptized by 
 his own hands (1 Cor., i., 15). But in no respect 
 did his general practice difier from that of the other 
 apostles ; like him, they were chiefly sent to preach 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Gospel (Matt., xxviii., 1 9 ; Mark, xvi.^ 1 5) ; and, 
 like them, he baptized the converts. In various 
 churches he may have left them to be baptized by 
 his companions, as at Corinth ; but they were all 
 baptized with his sanction. The converts were bap- 
 tized at Philippi (Acts, xvi., 15, 33), at Corinth 
 (Acts, xviii., 8 ; 1 Cor., i., 13 ; xv., 29), at Ephe- 
 sus (Acts, xix., 5 ; Eph., iv., 5), at Colosse (Col., 
 ii., 1 2), and throughout Asia Minor (1 Pet., iii., 21); 
 the disciples were also baptized at Rome (Rom., vi., 
 3) ; and since there is no reason to suppose that the 
 discipline of these churches differed from that of the 
 other apostolic churches, we may infer that all the 
 converts in those churches were similarly baptized. 
 From the days of the apostles, all the churches, with- 
 out exception, received baptism without any other 
 commands than these ; in the earliest Christian writ- 
 ings these passages are appealed to as the law upon 
 the subject. No one in the first ages ever objected 
 to this interpretation on the ground that a spiritual 
 baptism was intended ; and all, without exception, 
 accepted water baptism as a divine ordinance. Since, 
 then, an open confession of Christ at the beginning 
 of the Christian life is important, since the mode of 
 confessing him by immersion is simple and signifi- 
 cant, since there is no other command of Christ en- 
 joining baptism, since the apostles every where bap- 
 tized their converts in water, and since all the church- 
 es of Christ received the practice from them, we have 
 reason to think that the command in Matt., xxviii., 
 referred to water baptism, and not to baptism of the 
 Spirit. 
 
 2. It is important to consider in what sense the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 command would naturally be understood by the 
 apostles, because our Lord would not so speak as to 
 mislead those whom he was instructing. It is evi- 
 dent, from the manner in which, baptism is men- 
 tioned in the New Testament, that the writers were 
 familiar with the term and with its meaning. On 
 this occasion, apparently, the apostles asked no ex- 
 planation of the command, and the evangelist offers 
 none to his readers. The meaning was, it seems, 
 plain to every one. What, then, was that mean- 
 ing ? Baptism in water had been practiced by the 
 Jews, by John, and by the apostles of John. We 
 read, " Then went out to him Jerusalem and all 
 Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and 
 were baptized of him in Jordan," Matt., iii., 5, 6. 
 Thousands, therefore, had been baptized by him, 
 and his baptism was the topic of universal conver- 
 sation, Luke, iii., 15 ; John, i., 25. Shortly after 
 the disciples of Jesus began to baptize, and numbers 
 received the rite from their hands, John, iii., 22—26 ; 
 iv. , 1 , 2 . When any conversation arose among the 
 disciples respecting baptism among the Jews, the 
 word always meant baptism in water ; if they used 
 the word with reference to the ministry of John, it 
 meant baptism in water ; or if they spoke of it with 
 reference to the followers of Christ, it still recalled 
 the fact that they had been baptized in water. 
 Every one was familiar with the baptismal rite, ev- 
 ery one talked of it ; it admitted proselytes into 
 communion with the Jews ; it admitted converts 
 into the company of John's disciples ; it was admin- 
 istered to the disciples of Jesus. When, therefore, 
 Jesus said to his apostles, " Go ye and teach all na- 
 
 B 
 
18 INTRODUCTION., 
 
 tions, baptizing them. . . . Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature. . . . He 
 that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved" — 
 they must have understood him to speak of baptism 
 in water. 
 
 It is true that John had spoken of a superior bap- 
 tism when he said to the multitudes of Jesus, " He 
 shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost," Matt., iii., 1 1. 
 And Jesus himself had renewed the promise to his 
 disciples in these words : " Ye shall be baptized in 
 the Holy Ghost not many days hence," Acts, i,, 5 ; 
 but the disciples could not understand our Lord to 
 mean in the terms of the commission this spiritual 
 baptism, because this was a new thing understood 
 by few (John, iii., 1—9), talked of by few (John, xiv., 
 17), and which certainly had not yet superseded, 
 as, indeed, it never afterward did, the common mean- 
 ing of the term. Not one Jew in twenty who used 
 the word baptism would mean the baptism of the 
 Spirit ; not one in a thousand would think of spir- 
 itual baptism when he heard the simple word em- 
 ployed ; and, therefore, no one would employ it in 
 that sense ; and when the apostles received the com- 
 mand simply to baptize, they must have understood 
 it as all other Jews would of baptism in water. 
 
 Had any question arisen for a moment as to the 
 meaning of the term, it would, as I think, have been 
 speedily settled in their minds, by their noticing in 
 what manner both John and Jesus spoke of the spir- 
 itual baptism. They had heard John say of Jesus, 
 " He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost ;" and 
 they had heard Jesus say, " Ye shall be baptized in 
 the Holy Ghost ;" but they had never heard either 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 John or Jesus say, " Ye shall baptize others in the 
 Holy Ghost." On the contrary, though John was 
 a great prophet, who «' turned many of the children 
 of Israel to the Lord their God" (Luke, i., 16), yet 
 he expressly disclaimed this power of baptizing in 
 the Spirit, which was to be the prerogative of Jesus 
 alone : " I indeed baptize you in water unto repent- 
 ance, but he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost," 
 Mattv, iii., 11. Hitherto, when John had com- 
 m.anded liis disciples to baptize, he meant them to 
 baptize in water ; when Jesus had commanded his 
 disciples to baptize, he meant them to baptize in 
 water ; and now that, without any special promise 
 of higher power, he again commanded them to bap- 
 tize, how could they understand him to mean some- 
 thing totally new, or suppose him incidentally, and 
 without any explanation, to confer a power withheld 
 even from John the Baptist ? But as Jesus knew 
 that the disciples must understand him to mean that 
 they should baptize in water, he certainly did mean it. 
 
 3. We have also satisfactory, positive evidence 
 that our Lord here commanded his disciples to bap- 
 tize in water. 
 
 Like John, the ministers of Christ to the end of 
 time are sent forth to turn many to God (Luke, i., 
 16) ; but, like him, they are unable to baptize in 
 the Holy Ghost, Matt., iii., 11. This baptism in 
 the Spirit, which is the regeneration of the soul, is 
 exclusively the work of God. Men may be em- 
 ployed by him to preach, but the work of regenera- 
 ting a spirit, of giving life to a dead soul, the work 
 of the new creation, is always ascribed to God and 
 to Christ — never to ministers. See Acts, ii., 33, 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 47 ; John, i., 13 ; Tit., iii., 5; James, i., 18; 1 Pet., 
 i., 3 ; 1 John, iii., 9 ; 1 Cor., iii., 5, 9 ; 2 Cor., v., 
 17 ; Eph., ii., 1-5, 11, &c., &c. The ministers of 
 Christ, therefore, are here not called to do what is 
 exclusively the work of God, to baptize in the Spirit, 
 but, as their appropriate work, to lead those whom 
 God has baptized in his Spirit to profess their change 
 of mind by baptism in water. Nowhere can bap- 
 tism, when it stands alone, be shown to refer to 
 spiritual baptism. But both the word and the 
 phrase which are here employed are employed of the 
 baptism in water. 
 
 First, let us observe the New Testament use of 
 the word baptism. 
 
 " Then Peter said unto them. Repent and be bap- 
 tized, every one of you," Acts, ii., 38. 
 
 " Then they that gladly received his word were 
 baptized," Acts, ii., 41. 
 
 " When they believed Philip , . . they were bap- 
 tized. . . . Then Simon himself believed also ; and 
 when he was baptized, he continued with Philip," 
 Acts, viii., 12, 13. 
 
 " Many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and 
 were baptized," Acts, xviii., 8. 
 
 <' He said unto them. Unto what then were ye 
 baptized ? And they said, Unto John's baptism. 
 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the bap- 
 tism of repentance, saying unto the people that they 
 should believe on Him which should come after him, 
 that is, Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they 
 were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus," 
 Acts, xix., 3—5. 
 
 *' I thank God that I baptized none of you but 
 
 i 
 
INTRODUCTION. 2X 
 
 Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I had 
 baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also 
 the household of Stephanus ; besides, I know not 
 whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me 
 not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel," 1 Cor., i., 
 14-17. 
 
 Without comment on these passages, we can at 
 once see that in them all baptism alone, without any 
 mention of water, means baptism in water, and not 
 baptism in the Spirit. 
 
 Next, let us notice the New Testament use of the 
 phrase " baptism unto the name of God." I should 
 not omit, in passing, to recall the phrase in the 
 prophecy of Jeremiah, ' ' Circumcise yourselves to the 
 Lord" (Jer., iv., 4), because " circumcision to the 
 Lord" is similar to " baptism to the Lord," both ex- 
 ternal acts betokening the same duty of sanctification 
 and dedication to God. Several times are similar 
 phrases used in the New Testament, of which the 
 following are instances : 
 
 " They were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud 
 and in the sea," 1 Cor., x., 2. They were marked 
 to be the disciples of Moses, by following him into 
 the Red Sea, where they were buried for a while 
 within the cloud and sea which surrounded them. 
 
 " Were ye baptized unto the name of Paul," «f 
 TO ovofia 'n.av?iov (1 Cor., i., 13), were you dedica- 
 ted by your baptism in water to be disciples of Paul ? 
 
 " Only they were baptized slg rb bvoiia, unto the 
 name of the Lord Jesus," Acts, viii., 16. 
 
 " When they heard this they were baptized e/f 
 TO ovojua, unto the name of the Lord Jesus," Acts, 
 xix., 5. 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 As in all these places the phrases " to be baptized 
 unto the name" of any one means to be dedicated by 
 water baptism to the service of any one, the similar 
 phrase in the commission to the apostles must mean 
 the same thing ; and when Jesus said, " Baptize 
 them unto the name of the Father, of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost," he m,eant, Dedicate them by 
 water baptism to the service of the Triune God. 
 
 As all the direct evidence is in favor of interpret- 
 ing the word baptism when it stands alone in the 
 New Testament to mean water baptism, and as 
 *' antecedent probabilities," if there be any, «' are of 
 very small value, if opposed by direct evidence," 
 " scarcely deserving to be taken into account" (^God- 
 ivin, 143), we may unhesitatingly conclude that the 
 commission to the ministers of Christ to baptize is a 
 command to them to baptize in water. 
 
 On the whole, as it seems to me, we have abund- 
 ant reason to conclude that the command in the 
 commission to the ministers of Christ to baptize is to 
 baptize in water ; and that it is the will of Christ 
 that disciples or believers in him should be baptized 
 in water in all successive generations. 
 
 On the same grounds, all the other passages of the 
 New Testament in which baptism is mentioned alone 
 must, unless special reasons can be adduced for the 
 contrary, be understood to mean baptism in water. 
 In Rom., vi., 3, and Gal., iii., 27, believers are said 
 " to be baptized unto Christ ;" and in Col., ii., 12, 
 "to be buried with him in baptism." Eph., iv., 5, 
 reminds us that among Christians there is " one bap- 
 tism ;" and the Apostle Peter declares (1 Peter, iii., 
 21), *' Baptism doth save us ;" all which passages, 
 
{NTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 for the reasons above assigned, must be understood to 
 mean baptism in water. 
 
 III. Further, this command to baptize, or to im- 
 merse in water, must be understood to be of perpet- 
 ual authority, and to bind the ministers of Christ to 
 baptize his disciples to the end of time, for the follow- 
 ing reasons, among others : 
 
 1 . As our Lord has here commanded his disciples 
 to disciple and to baptize the nations, with the as- 
 surance that while they are accomplishing this mis- 
 sion he will be with them eo)g ttjc; ovvTeXslag tov 
 aldjvog, " to the end of the world," it follows that 
 they must continue to baptize until the end of the 
 world.* 
 
 2. As the dispensation of the Spirit began at Pen- 
 tecost, and the kingdom of Christ began then to be 
 established, whatever was then practiced generally 
 by the apostles in the churches became a law of the 
 kingdom of Christ, which was not meant to pass 
 away like the Mosaic ceremonial, but to last , and 
 since the apostles administered baptism to their con- 
 verts, it must still be administered to the same class 
 
 * " Aluv, an age, a long space of time, a period. -O aluv ov- 
 Tog, this present world." — Liddell. " Aluv, the present world." — 
 Robinson. " Mundus orbis terrarum in Nova Testamentum 6 atuv 
 dicitur." — Schleusner. The word is used to express the present 
 world: Matt., xii., 32; xiii., 22, 39; Mark, x., 30; Luke, i., 70; 
 xvi.,8; xviii., 30; xx.,34,35; Acts,xv., 18; Eph.,i.,21. "Hence," 
 says Schleusner, " it appears that ' this world' does not ever sig- 
 nify in the New Testament the times of the Old Testament, nor 
 the ' world to come' the times of the Messiah." See Heb., i., 2 ; 
 xi., 3. 
 
 " 'EiVVTeTi.Eta, accomplishment," — Liddell. " Full end, consum- 
 mation."— i2o6mson. Matt., xiii., 39, 40, 49 ; from avvTeXeo), " to 
 accomplish," " to end," used Matt., vii., 28 ; Luke, iv., 13 ; Acts, 
 xxi.,27. 
 
34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of persons. No reason can be assigned for the discon- 
 tinuance of baptism now, which was not equally valid 
 at the period wherein the apostles were baptizing. 
 
 3. Baptism being the appointed method by which 
 the first converts professed their faith in Christ, is as 
 suitable to our times as to theirs. As Judaism had 
 its initiatory rite, so is it useful that Christianity 
 should have its initiatory rite likewise. A profes- 
 sion of faith is necessary at the beginning of a Chris- 
 tian life, and no act of profession can be more solemn 
 or expressive than this. 
 
 4. The terms in which baptism is spoken of in the 
 New Testament are such as to forbid the notion that 
 it was intended for a limited period alone at the com- 
 mencement of the Christian era. Our Lord's solemn 
 words are, " He that believeth arid is baptized shall 
 be saved,'' Mark, xvi., 16. To the Jewish multitude 
 the Apostle Peter said, ''Repent, and be baptized 
 every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for 
 the remission of sins,'' Acts, ii., 38. By baptism 
 believers are said to be " buried with Christ," and 
 to ''rise ivith him" (Rom., vi., 3 ; Col., ii., 12); 
 and baptism is said to "save 2ts" (1 Pet., iii., 21). 
 An ordinance which had such consequences was not 
 meant to be discontinued in the churches. 
 
 5. The uses of baptism remain the same in every 
 age ; whatever advantages believers and churches 
 obtained from it in the apostolic age, they can obtain 
 now ; and if it was necessary then, it must be no less 
 necessary now. 
 
 6. Our Lord has directed his disciples to "disciple 
 ALL NATIONS, bap)tizing them ;"^ and since the na- 
 
 * " All nations," Ravra to, edvTj, all the nations of the world. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 tions generally are not yet either converted or bap- 
 tized, the command remains to he accomplished. 
 
 These commands of Christ, therefore, are now in 
 force just as when they were first given to the apos- 
 tles ; and we have to consider what the duties are 
 which they enjoin. 
 
 See Matt., xii., 18, 21 ; xxv., 32 ; Luke, xxi., 24 ; Acts, ii., 5 ; xiv., 
 16; xvii., 26; Rom.,iv., 17, 13 ; Rev.,xi.,9; xii., 5, &c., &c. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MEANING OF THE COMMISSION GIVEN TO THE 
 APOSTLES. 
 
 Having now ascertained that Christ has com- 
 manded his ministers to immerse disciples, and has 
 commanded his disciples to be immersed, let us fur- 
 ther examine the meaning of this command, as de- 
 veloped by the commission itself 
 
 Before our Lord ascended to his glory, he said to 
 his apostles, " Go ye and teach all nations, baptiz- 
 ing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe 
 all things ivhatsoever I have commanded you^ 
 
 The word fiaOrjrevsLV, here translated "to teach," 
 is sometimes used in that sense, as Matt., xiii., 52 ; 
 but here it means apparently " to make a disciple" 
 (Liddell), " to train or teach as a disciple" (^Robin- 
 son), "to draw any one to the Christian religion" 
 (^Schleusner), as Acts, xiv., 21. Three acts are 
 therefore enjoined — to disciple the nations, to bap- 
 tize them, and to teach them obedience to all Christ's 
 laws. 
 
 Now there are three ways in which these words 
 may be understood, supposing the meaning of the 
 separate terms to be ascertained. First, We may 
 understand that the second and third commands are 
 explanatory of the first. " Baptizing the nations and 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 27 
 
 teaching them to obey my commands, make disciples 
 of them ;" in other words, " Make disciples of the 
 nations by baptizing them and by teaching them obe- 
 dience." According to this construction of the sen- 
 tence, some maintain that persons are to be baptized, 
 not after they are become disciples, but in order to 
 their becoming so ; they are not to be made disciples 
 that they may be baptized and taught, but to be bap- 
 tized and taught that they may thus be made dis- 
 ciples. All serious applicants, they think, ought to 
 be baptized at once, and then instructed that they 
 may become disciples : the nations are to be baptized 
 and then taught, there being no other limit to the 
 duty than the practicability. 
 
 There are serious objections to this interpretation. 
 
 1 . Without previous knowledge of Christ and faith 
 in Christ, the nations would not be baptized ; and to 
 command the disciples to baptize the nations before 
 they were converted was to command what was im- 
 practicable. How, for instance, would the mission- 
 aries now on the coast of China be able to baptize 
 the people of Canton, Amoy, or Shanghae, before 
 leading them to believe in Christ ? By baptism a 
 Hindoo renounces caste, connections, property : will 
 he do this before he understands and believes the 
 Gospel ? 
 
 2. If baptism precedes discipleship, so does the 
 instruction in all the details of obedience ; for the 
 second and third commands, being both participles 
 present, must be synchronical ; and if the one must 
 precede discipleship, so must the other. Hence no 
 man can be a disciple till he is instructed in all the 
 details of obedience as well as baptized, which is 
 
28 BAPTISM. 
 
 contrary to the common use of language, and con- 
 trary to fact. 
 
 3. According to this interpretation, raen are to 
 be taught to obey all the commands of Christ before 
 they become his disciples, which is impossible ; for, 
 till men become disciples of Christ, they will not 
 listen to his commands. 
 
 4. The most serious objection to this interpreta- 
 tion is, that no man is made a disciple by being bap- 
 tized and being taught the details of obedience, but 
 by hearing and receiving the doctrine of Christ. 
 
 5. In various places in the New Testament, dis- 
 cipleship is stated to be different from baptism, and 
 to precede it. Thus, in John, iv., we read, " When, 
 therefore, the Lord knew how the Pharisees had 
 heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples 
 than John, he left Judea." Jesus therefore made 
 disciples, and then baptized them. The baptism was 
 different from the discipleship, and succeeded it. 
 
 6. This interpretation is refuted by the practice 
 of the apostles, who led men to believe the Gospel 
 before they baptized them. 
 
 But there are not wanting passages in the New 
 Testament which show that these three commands 
 may mean, " Make disciples of the nations by lead- 
 ing them to believe in me, then baptize them as 
 disciples, and then teach them as baptized disciples 
 to obey all my commands." 
 
 Present participles thus, sometimes, in the New 
 Testament, express actions which immediately fol- 
 low the action of the verb with which they are con- 
 nected, and are accessories to it. Thus (Matt., viii., 
 27), ** The men marveled, saying," &c. When the 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 29 
 
 wonder preceded tlie language and caused it (Matt., 
 ix., 33), " The multitudes marveled, saying," &c. 
 See, also, Matt., xix., 25 ; xxi., 10, 20 ; xxvi., 8, 
 &c. In all these cases the emotion described pre- 
 ceded the words. So, when Jesus said, " Go ye and 
 disciple the nations, baptizing them," the disciple- 
 ship might precede the baptism, and be its cause. 
 Present participles are connected in a similar man- 
 ner with words of approaching, as (Matt., xvii., 14), 
 " Then came to him a man, kneeling down to him ;" 
 Matt., xix., 3, " The Pharisees came to him tempt- 
 ing him." In the one case the man came before he 
 knelt, and in the second the Pharisees came before 
 they tempted. So when it was said to the apostles, 
 << Disciple baptizing," they might disciple before they 
 baptized. In these and similar instances we may 
 observe, too, that the verb and the participle may 
 refer to different acts, and that the participle may 
 describe something additional to the principal action ; 
 as, for instance (Luke, vi., 36), "Lend, hoping for 
 nothing again ;" again, " Lend, and when ye lend, 
 hope for no return." So here the command is, 
 " Make disciples, and as you make disciples, baptize 
 them." There are some instances in which, if I 
 mistake not, three consecutive actions are expressed 
 precisely as the three acts are in the commission. 
 Thus (Eph., v., 18-20), 1. " Be filled with the Spir- 
 it;" 2. " speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, 
 and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in 
 your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all 
 things ;" 3. " submitting yourselves one to another. "=* 
 
 * Il?[.T]pov(j6e kv Uvev/narc, ^.aXovvreg iavTolg, adovreg kol 
 'ipd?i?iOVTeg evxapiarovvTeg, virorauaofievoL aXkrfkoiq, &c. 
 
30 BAPTISM. 
 
 As here the perpetual thanksgiving and the submis- 
 sion to each other are consequences of being filled 
 with the Spirit, so, in the commission, baptism and 
 instruction are to be consequences of discipleshij). 
 
 Eph., vi., 17, 18. 1. ''Take the helmet of sal- 
 vation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the 
 word of God ;" 2. " praying always with all prayer 
 and supplication in the Spirit," 3. "and watching 
 thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for 
 all saints. "=^ The soldier takes his armor first in a 
 time of danger, and then watches ; the Christian is 
 called to assume Christian tempers and the word of 
 God as his armor, and then to pray and to watch. 
 Just so, according to the commission, the sinner is 
 called to become a disciple first, and then to profess 
 discipleship in baptism, and to receive instruction in 
 the details of a Christian life. The construction of 
 the two sentences is exactly similar, and so is the 
 order of the actions. In Eph., vi., the two present 
 participles following the verb express two actions 
 immediately following the action of the verb, and 
 this is exactly the case with the present participles 
 which follow the verb in Matt., xxviii. 
 
 Col., iii., 16. 1. " Let the word of Christ dwell 
 in you richly ;" 2. " teaching and admonishing one 
 another," 3. "in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual 
 songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the 
 Lord."t They were first to store their minds with 
 scripture, and then teach one another, and sing praise. 
 
 * Tt/v 7TepLKE<pa2,aiav de^acde, 7rpocevx6fJ.EVOL kv navrl KatpC), 
 Kol aypvTTVOvvreg ev Tcdari TrpooKapTeprjcet. 
 
 t 'O Tioyo^ Tov XpioTOv evoiKsiru ev vfuv, diSdaKOvreq iav- 
 Tovg, ■ipa?./ioic adovrec. 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 31 
 
 The two present participles following the verb ex- 
 press actions immediately following the action of the 
 verb ; and in Matt., xxviii., a similar construction 
 expresses the same order of ideas. 
 
 But although, according to New Testament usage, 
 the two participles express, as I think, actions sub- 
 sequent to the action of the principal verb, those 
 who will not admit this construction are not reduced 
 to the necessity of interpreting the commission to 
 mean, "Make disciples by baptizing and by teaching 
 to obey." The construction of the sentence may 
 illustrate the following rule : " Every action which 
 admits of being considered as only accompanying 
 another, which is the main action, and may thus be 
 represented as an accessory circumstance of another, 
 the Greeks are fond of expressing by the participle, 
 and even when two finite verbs are joined by 'and,' 
 one of them is generally put in the participle and 
 the copula is omitted Several participles fre- 
 quently stand in one proposition without a connec- 
 tion, where the conjunctive particle would represent 
 these verbs as three separate actions." — Matthice, 
 Participle. Here, therefore, when our Lord said, 
 " Disciple all the nations, baptizing them, teaching 
 them to obey," it is the same as if he had said, "Dis- 
 ciple, and baptize, and teach ;" the three actions are 
 cotemporaneous. With respect to each individual, 
 the actions are consecutive. Each minister disci- 
 ples or converts the individual first, then baptizes, 
 and then teaches the details of Christian character 
 and conduct ; but, comprehensively considered, these 
 actions are cotemporaneous, since of the whole body 
 of the ministers of Christ, to whom the commission 
 
32 BAPTISM. 
 
 is given, some are preaching the Gospel, some bap- 
 tizing, and some teaching the details of Christian 
 duty at the same time, through all successive gen- 
 erations. So it is said (Matt., ix., 35), 1. «' Jesus 
 went about all the cities," 2. "teaching in their 
 synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the king- 
 dom," 3. "and healing every sickness." In each 
 place the preaching and the healing necessarily fol- 
 lowed the arrival ; but the three habits of traveling, 
 teaching, and healing were, with respect to the 
 whole tour, concurrent. 
 
 If, further, we seek to determine the order of the 
 actions in the text which we are examining by the 
 authority of distinguished men, we shall find that the 
 commentators the most remarkable both for scholar- 
 ship and for their acquaintance with the Bible, by 
 common consent understand our Lord to declare 
 that discipleship must precede baptism, not baptism 
 discipleship ; that our Lord has ordered his minis- 
 ters to disciple in order to baptize, not to baptize in 
 order to disciple ; to baptize after conversion, not in 
 order to convert. 
 
 " Christ orders those to be baptized who shall 
 have given their name to the Gospel, and shall have 
 professed themselves disciples ; partly that baptism 
 may be to them the watchword of eternal life be- 
 fore God, partly the external sign of faith among 
 men. Therefore, in Mark it is said, ' He that be- 
 lieveth and is baptized.' By which words Christ 
 joins baptism to doctrine, so that the former may 
 be merely an accession to the latter. But since 
 Christ orders to teach before baptizing, and wills 
 that believers alone be admitted to baptism, bap- 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 33 
 
 tism seems not to be rightly administered unless 
 faith has preceded. And properly is faith in the 
 word placed before baptism, since the Gentiles were 
 wholly alienated from God, nor had any thing in 
 common with the elect people ; otherwise the figure 
 would be mendacious, offering remission of sins and 
 the gift of the Spirit to unbelievers who were not 
 as yet members of Christ." — Calvin.'^ 
 
 ''Go ye therefore and teach all nations. To 
 gather together my subjects and believers .... which 
 is done by the preaching of the Gospel. . . . Baptiz- 
 ing them for a sacrament of my grace to them in 
 remission of sins, and likewise for a token that they 
 are bound on their side to consecrate themselves to 
 me." — Diodati.f 
 
 " Teach all nations. Teach all the nations the 
 Christian doctrine, and persuade them to embrace it, 
 
 * " Baptizaii jubet Christus, qui nomen evangelio dederint, se- 
 que professi fuerint discipulos : partim ut illis baptismus vitae eter- 
 iiae sit tessera coram Deo, partim apud homines externum fidei 
 signum. Ideoque apud Marcum dicitur, Qui crediderit et baptiza- 
 tusfuerit, quibus verbis . . . Christus . . . doctrinae baptismum cop- 
 ulat, ut hoc nihil aliud sit quam illius accessio. Verum quia do- 
 cere prius jubet Christus quam baptizare, et tantum credentes ad 
 baptismum vult recipi, videtur non rite administrari baptismus 
 nisi fides precesserit. Merito autem ante baptismum locatur ver- 
 bi fides, quum gentes alienae prorsus essent a Deo, nee quicquam 
 haberent cum electo populo commune ; nam alioqui mendax esset 
 figura, quae peccatorum remissionem et Spiritus donum offerret 
 incredulis, qui nondum essent Christi membra." — Calvin on Matt., 
 xxviii., 19. 
 
 t " Andate adunque, ed ammaestrate tutti i popoli, per ricog- 
 liere i miei sudditi e fedeli . . . il che si far per la predicatione 
 deir evangelio. Batezzandogli, per sagramento della mia gratia 
 in remessione de' peccati, ed insieme in segno d'obbligatione, dal 
 canto loro di consecrarsi a me." 
 
 c 
 
34 BAPTISM. 
 
 and to live according to it, baptizing," &c. — Ham- 
 mond. 
 
 " Go into all nations, preach the Gospel to them, 
 work miracles among them, persuade them to come 
 in themselves, and to bring their children with them ; 
 and then admit them and theirs into the Church by 
 washing them with water." — Henry. 
 
 " The writer of the Constitutions, which are as- 
 cribed to Clement, explains the sense, ' You must 
 first strip them of all impiety, then impart piety to 
 them, and so make them worthy of baptism.' " — 
 Grotiiis.^ 
 
 " ' Make disciples of all nations.' That must be 
 first by preaching and instructing them in the prin- 
 ciples of the Christian faith ; and Mark expounds it, 
 telling us our Savior said, ' Go ye into all the world 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature,' " — Poole. 
 
 " When made disciples, they were to be baptized 
 into the name," &c. — Boothroyd. 
 
 " Our Lord's words, taken together in both verses, 
 distinctly enjoin three things, and that in the fol- 
 lowing order — iiaOrjrevsLV, jSarTTL^etv, dtddaKeiv, i. 
 e., to proselyte men to Christ, to baptize, and to teach 
 them. It is true, however, that adult persons, be- 
 fore they can be made Christ's disciples, or be pros- 
 elyted, must be instructed, and brought to believe 
 the great essential truths of Christianity, and even 
 to profess their faith in them." — Benson. 
 
 *< There are two words in this passage which are 
 
 * " Sensum explicat scriptor Constitutionum quae Clemente ad- 
 scribuntur: Ael vfiug Tzporepov Tzdaav aaiiSsiav k^tTiovrag, tote 
 TTjv evGEjSeiav avrolg £yKaTaj3d?.XEadat Kal rov iSaTrTca/iaTog 
 u^icjcai: Oportet vos, exempta prius impietate omni, deinde pie- 
 tatem ipsis inscrere, et sic eos baptismo dignari." 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 35 
 
 translated ' teach' and ' teaching.' The former is 
 of the same import with that which is rendered dis- 
 ciples, and it means that general instruction which 
 was necessary to bring men to profess themselves 
 the disciples of Christ ; and the other relates to 
 their more particular subsequent instruction in all 
 the various parts of Christianity." — Scott. 
 
 " MadTjTSVELV (to make disciples) is here to preach 
 the Gospel to all nations, and to engage them to be- 
 lieve it in order to their profession of that faith by 
 baptism, as seems apparent, 1. from the parallel 
 commission, Mark, xvi., 15; 2. from the scripture 
 notion of a disciple, that being still the same as a 
 believer. To be made disciples here is to be taught 
 to believe in Christ, that so they might be his disci- 
 ples." — Whitby. 
 
 " There are manifestly three things which our 
 Lord here distinctly enjoins on his apostles to exe- 
 cute with regard to the nations, fiadrjTeveiv, jSanTi- 
 ^eiv^ diddoKELV, that is, to convert them to the 
 Christian faith, to initiate the converts into the 
 Church by baptism, and to instruct the baptized in 
 all the duties of the Christian life." — Campbell, 
 Valp2j, Bloomjield. 
 
 " This was the regular course .... to change the 
 doE6eia of the converts into evaedsLa, and render 
 
 them worthy of baptism Thus, with Christians 
 
 collected from all nations, baptism was made the 
 distinguishing mark of their profession of a common 
 faith .... liadTjrevELV is the first initiation into the 
 principles preparatory to baptism ; dcddoKELV, the 
 more complete instruction afterward imparted." — 
 EUesley. 
 
36 BAPTISM. 
 
 Thus a general consent of the best commentators 
 establishes the sense of the commission te be, that 
 the ministers of Christ should do three consecutive 
 duties : 1 st, They should lead men to be disciples 
 of Christ by faith, through instruction in the doc- 
 trines of the Gospel ; 2dly, They should baptize 
 them as professed believers ; odly, They should in- 
 struct them in the details of Christian obedience, and 
 lead them ta obey the w^ill of Christ in all things. 
 
 This meaning of the passage being established by 
 the meaning of various passages in the New Testa- 
 ment which have a similar construction, and by the 
 consent of the best expositors, is further established 
 by the meaning of the terms employed. There are 
 three expressions employed — to make disciples, to 
 baptize, to teach obedience. From the sense of the 
 terms, these must be consecutive acts with respect 
 to each individual. The text can not mean to make 
 a man a disciple by baptizing and by teaching to 
 obey ; but make him a disciple, then baptize him, 
 and then teach him to obey. 
 
 1. The meaning of the word "disciple" shows 
 that this text means disciple and baptize, not disci- 
 ple by baptizing. Because a disciple means a be- 
 liever, and to make disciples must be to lead men to 
 believe.* False professors of faith in Jesus Christ 
 
 * " MadjjTsvo), in the New Testament, to make a disciple." — 
 Liddell. " To train as a disciple, to teach, to instruct." — Robin- 
 son. " To draw any one to the Christian rehgion, to imbue any 
 one with the first elements of the Christian religion ; ixadrjTevaaTe 
 TTUvra TO. edvT] ; teach or render followers of my doctrine all the 
 nations, e. g., fxadrjTaq tvoleIte, John, iv., 1." — Schleusner. " Ma- 
 OriTTjg, a disciple (from fxadelv, to learn), a learner, a pupil." — 
 Ijiddell. " A follower of Christ, professing his doctrine, a Chris- 
 tian." — Schleusner. 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 37 
 
 are, indeed, called disciples, because of that profes- 
 sion, John, vi., 60, 61, 66. And Judas, as a pro- 
 fessed believer, was called a disciple, Matt., x., 1 ; 
 Luke, vi,, 13. But as false disciples were false 
 professors of faith, so true disciples are true believers, 
 Luke, xiv., 26, 27, 33 ; John, viii., 31 ; xiii., 35; 
 XV., 8. 
 
 The apostles were simply termed disciples. Matt., 
 X., 1 ; Luke, vi., 13 ; ix., 1 ; John, xxi., 24. The 
 seventy evangelists were simply termed disciples, 
 Luke, x., 1, 17, 23. The members of the Church 
 at Jerusalem were simply termed disciples, Acts, i., 
 15; vi., 1; ix., 1. And the members of other 
 churches are so termed. Acts, xiii., 52 ; xiv., 22 ; 
 XX., 1, 7 ; xxi., 4, 16. No persons are true disci- 
 ples but those who obey him ; according to our 
 Lord's express statements : "If ye continue in my 
 word, then are ye my disciples indeed," John, viii., 
 31. "Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear 
 much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples," John, xv., 8. 
 Assuming that the name of disciple might be given 
 to any unconverted man who taught instruction in 
 the Christian religion, it was not such a disciple 
 that Jesus desired to make. He surely wished to 
 have true followers, not false ones ; and when he 
 told them that while they were occupied in making 
 disciples he would be with them to the end of the 
 world, he certainly promised the aid of his grace to 
 make true disciples, not spurious ones ; not to im- 
 part to ungodly men some elementary and abortive 
 notions of Christianity, but to turn them from the 
 power of vSatan unto God, Acts, xxvi., 1 6-18. When, 
 therefore, the apostles were called to make disciples 
 
38 BAPTISM. 
 
 of the nations by the power of their Master (verses 
 17, 20), they were called to make true disciples, 
 such disciples as apostles, evangelists, and members 
 of living churches. But baptism can not make 
 such. Persons coming to be baptized are at the 
 time either believers or unbelievers ; if they are un- 
 believers, baptism can not make them believers, and 
 therefore can not make them disciples ; and if they 
 are believers, they are disciples already. Baptism 
 can not make a disciple in the lowest sense, because 
 it can not make a man even a learner of the Chris- 
 tian doctrine, still less can it make a true disciple a 
 believer in Christ. The children of Ood are born 
 again by the word of God, James, i., 18 ; 1 Pet., i., 
 23; Eph., v., 26. And all who believe are his 
 children, John, i., 12 ; Gal., iii., 26. But the chil- 
 dren of God are disciples of Christ, and all who be- 
 lieve are disciples of Christ. Faith comes by hear- 
 ing the truth, not by baptism, Rom., x., 17. And, 
 therefore, to make disciples is to bring men to believe 
 by preaching to them the Gospel, not to baptize 
 them ; and the text must mean disciple and then 
 baptize, not disciple by baptizing. 
 
 If any one still insist that the word '' disciple" 
 may be taken in its lowest sense to signify a mere 
 learner, and that, therefore, if discipleship precedes 
 baptism, baptism may precede true faith, I ask what 
 term could have been selected to express that true 
 faith must precede baptism. Had our Lord said, 
 ** Go, make men believers, make men saints, con- 
 vert them, lead them to regeneration, and then bap- 
 tize them ;" still objectors, nothing daunted, might 
 have said, "Some men believe without being con- 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 39 
 
 verted. See Luke, viii., 13. Saints do not mean 
 holy persons, but professors of Christianity. See 
 Locke on 1 Cor., i,, 1, 2. Conversion means re- 
 nunciation of idolatry, and men are regenerated by 
 water, John, iii., 5. So nothing need precede bap- 
 tism but a general belief that Jesus is the Christ." 
 In the infirmity of language, any text may be evad- 
 ed by applying to its terms low meanings against 
 common usage and against the indications of the 
 context. 
 
 We may further learn that baptism must follow 
 discipleship from the meaning of baptism itself. The 
 use of water is employed in scripture symbolically, to 
 signify the purification of the soul. To wash the 
 soul means, in scripture phraseology, to free it from 
 the guilt and the defilement of sin, Ps. li., 2, 7 ; 
 Isa., i., 1 6 ; Jer., iv., 14. A religious washing must, 
 at the least, signify that the soul requires to be puri- 
 fied ; a religious immersion must express the com- 
 pleteness of that required purification. When, there- 
 fore, a person voluntarily receives immersion, he vol- 
 imtarily receives a rite which expresses his need of 
 total purification. But how can any one receive vol- 
 untarily a rite which expresses his need of purifica- 
 tion without himself expressing that need ? And 
 how can a man honestly express his need of purifica- 
 tion without seeking to be purified ? And how can 
 a man seek to be entirely purified, and not seek to 
 lead a life of holiness and piety ? He who does all 
 this is a true disciple ; and he who professes all this 
 is a professed disciple. And since baptism itself im- 
 plies all this, it is in itself a profession of disciple- 
 ship; and, therefore, baptism, from the symbolical 
 
40 BAPTISM. 
 
 meaning of the act, ought to be preceded by disciple- 
 ship. 
 
 I think that we may learn the same thing from 
 the next words employed by our Savior in the text. 
 When he said, " Go ye and disciple, baptizing elg to 
 ovona, unto the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost," he manifested his will that 
 baptism should follow discipleship. The ordinary 
 meaning oi elg is " into" or " unto ;" and in the New 
 Testament it is used to express dedication to any one. 
 The following are instances : R/om.,xi., 36, " To him, 
 elg avTOV, are all things ;" 1 Cor., x., 2, "They were 
 all baptized unto Moses, elg rov Mcovciiv ;" 1 Cor., i., 
 13, " Were ye baptized unto the name, elg ro ovoiia^ 
 of Paul ?" Rom., vi., 3, "As many of us as were 
 baptized unto Jesus Christ, elg XptOTov." In these 
 cases, to be baptized unto Christ, or unto Moses, or 
 unto Paul, means so as to be his follower or disciple, 
 consecrated to his service. " The expression, to be 
 baptized unto Christ, in the style of Paul, does not 
 designate a simple external profession of the religion 
 of the Gospel, but the act of heart by which one ac- 
 cepts that religion ; an act of which submission to 
 the rite of baptism was the public and ordained ex- 
 pression."* Hence immersion unto the name of God 
 means consecration to God ; and the words, " Bap- 
 tizing them unto the name of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost," means consecrating 
 them unto the Triune God.f Such being the mean- 
 
 * Hodge, Rom,, vi., 3. French translation, 
 
 t Unto the name. " Per consegrargli al solo vero Iddio rivelato 
 in tre persone." — Diodati. 
 
 Unto the name. " Into the profession of the Trinity, i. e., one 
 God in three persons, in opposition to all false gods and false wor- 
 
MEANING OP THE COMMISSION. 41 
 
 ing of baptism unto the name of God, recognized by 
 the best commentators with a very general consent, 
 how can an ignorant and unconverted man make 
 this profession without hypocrisy or presumption ? 
 And how can a minister of Christ, without unfaith- 
 fulness to his commission, sanction such worthless 
 profession ? Certainly our Lord did not intend it ; 
 and therefore, when he said, " Disciple all nations, 
 baptizing them unto the name of the Father, of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost," he ordained not that 
 they should be immersed in water unto the name of 
 God, with a view to eventual consecration to him, 
 but that they should consecrate themselves to him 
 
 ship ; and thereby to dedicate and give up ourselves to them, ac- 
 cording to their personal relations : to the Father, as our Creator, 
 to love, serve, obey him, and be happy in the enjoyment of him ; 
 to Christ, as our Redeemer, to free us from the guilt of sin and the 
 v^rrath of God ; to the Holy Ghost, to guide and sanctify us, and 
 comfort us with the sense of our present interest in God's love, 
 and the hopes of future glory." — Samuel Clark. 
 
 Unto the name. " Into the profession of the Trinity of the per- 
 sons in the one Divine Being ; dedicating the persons baptized to 
 God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and thereby obliging them 
 to worship and serve God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; 
 for in baptism there is both a solemn dedication of the person to 
 God and a solemn stipulation, the person baptized either covenant- 
 ing for himself that he will be the Lord's, or his parents covenant- 
 ing for him." — Poole. 
 
 " To be baptized unto any one, or unto his name, is to bind and 
 devote one's self to him, and to wish to be called by his name." — 
 Grotius. 
 
 " To be baptized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost, implies a professed dependence on these 
 three divine persons, jointly and equally, and a devoting of our- 
 selves to them as worshipers and servants." — Benson and Scott. 
 
 " Baptizing them unto the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by a 
 solemn profession of the only true religion, and by a solemn devo- 
 tion to the service of the sacred Tv\T\\\y.'' — Bomrx. 
 
42 BAPTISM. 
 
 first, and then profess it by immeV'Sion in water unto 
 his name. 
 
 We may learn, also, that discipleship precedes 
 baptism by the last clause of the commission ; for if 
 baptism is to precede discipleship because the com- 
 m.and to baptize is in the present participle, then the 
 teaching of the details of Christian obedience must 
 precede discipleship, because the command to teach 
 is likewise in the participle present. Now how can 
 ministers teach all the commands of their Master to 
 those who are not his disciples ? Such persons can 
 not be expected to receive his orders. The reason 
 why persons are expected to receive them is, that, 
 being disciples, they recognize his authority. A serv- 
 ant will listen to his master's commands, and all 
 others wdll spurn them. Hence it is apparent that 
 when Christ said, " Disciple the nations, teaching 
 them to obey all my commands," he meant, " Make 
 them disciples, and then teach them to obey." But 
 since the expression, " Disciple teaching," means dis- 
 ciple first, and then teach, the expression, " Disciple 
 baptizing," likewise means disciple first, and then 
 baptize. 
 
 We may further learn the same thing from the 
 terms in which our Lord, shortly after the baptismal 
 commission recorded by Matthew, renewed that com- 
 mission according to the narrative of Mark, saying 
 to the eleven disciples as follows, " Go ye into all 
 the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. 
 He that believeth and is baptized shall he saved,'' 
 Mark, xvi., 16, 17. Here our Lord declared, first, 
 That his disciples should preach the Gospel, urging 
 men in general to believe it, which ansAvers to the 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 43 
 
 corresponding- command in Matthew to disciple the 
 nations ; and, secondly, He promised salvation to all 
 who should first believe and then be baptized. That 
 this is the order of ideas in this command is appar- 
 enX; first, from the order of the terms employed ; 
 and, secondly, from the connection here estabhshed 
 between baptism and salvation. 
 
 The order of words in any sentence expressing 
 various actions generally, though not always, indi- 
 cates the order of the actions themselves, because in 
 expressing various consecutive acts it is natural to 
 express the first action first. The instances of this 
 harmony between the order of the words and the 
 order of the acts are innumerable, and generally we 
 should feel that a reversal of the order of the words 
 would violate our sense of propriety. A few speci- 
 mens may illustrate this fact. Had the wise men 
 who visited Bethlehem said respecting Jesus, not 
 " We have seen his star in the east, and are come 
 to worship him," but, " We are come to worship, 
 and have seen his star," they would have spoken 
 less exactly. Matt., ii., 2. If John had said to his 
 disciples, " Every tree which bringeth not forth good 
 fruit is cast into the fire and hewn down," he would 
 have spoken less properly than when he said of such 
 a tree, "It is hewn down and cast into the fire," 
 Matt., iii., 10. And similarly, when our Lord said, 
 " The rain descended and the floods came" (Matt., 
 vii., 27), the order of words indicated the order of 
 the facts. And that there is in our text a harmony 
 between the order of the words and of the facts, is 
 rendered more probable by our finding the same or- 
 der to be invariable in the New Testament. If the 
 
44 BAPTISM. 
 
 order of the facts had been that persons should first 
 be baptized and then beHeve, we should find this or- 
 der of words in some places, but this latter order of 
 words is never found. Acts, ii,, 38, we read, " Re- 
 pent and be baptized ;" Acts, xviii., 18, " Many be- 
 lieved and were baptized ;" and Eph., v., 4, " There 
 is one Lord, one faith, one baptism." But we never 
 find, " Be baptized and repent ;" " They were bap- 
 tized and believed ;" " There is one baptism, one 
 faith." This constant order of the words can not 
 be accidental, and must intimate that belief precedes 
 baptism in reality, as the one precedes the other in 
 the language of scripture.* 
 
 Secondly, there is a connection established in these 
 words between baptism and salvation which forbids 
 the idea that baptism precedes belief. It is not in- 
 deed said by our Lord that he who is not baptized 
 shall be damned, because many cases are conceiv- 
 able in which baptism would be impossible ; but 
 since it is said, " He who believes and is baptized 
 shall be saved," we must conclude that baptism is 
 generally necessary to salvation. And this is still 
 more strongly stated by our Lord in his recorded 
 conversation with Nicodemus, "■ Except a man be 
 born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter 
 into the kingdom of God," John, iii., 5. And Peter 
 expressly says, " Baptism doth save us," 1 Peter, iii., 
 2 1 . Now, if baptism had been the initiatory rite 
 
 * In John, iii., 5, which is indeed a somewhat similar passage, 
 the water is mentioned before the Spirit, because the thought to 
 be conveyed to Nicodemus, that regeneration by the Spirit was 
 the essential thing, required that this spiritual regeneration should 
 be mentioned last. There is in words an order of emphasis as 
 well as an order of time. 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 45 
 
 by which heathens without faith were to be made 
 catechumens, who could clearly be made so as well 
 without it, how could it be generally necessary to 
 salvation ? Is it conceivable, on this hypothesis, that 
 *' no one can enter the kingdom of heaven without 
 being born of water ?" or is the Apostle Peter's state- 
 ment intelligible that " baptism doth save us ?" But 
 if baptism follows faith, all these scriptural state- 
 ments become plain. Since men are pardoned and 
 justified for the sake of Christ alone (Rom., iii., 4 ; 
 1 Cor., i., 30), they are therefore justified by faith 
 alone without the deeds of the law. John, i., 12, 
 1.3 ; iii., 16, 36 ; xiii., 39 ; xvi., 31 ; Rom., iii., 28 ; 
 Gal., iii., 26. But as a true faith must manifest 
 itself, and baptism is one appointed mode of its mani- 
 festation, the faith which does not lead one who says 
 that he believes in Christ, and who knows that Christ 
 has enjoined baptism upon his disciples, to be bap- 
 tized, is a false faith. Since he who believes in 
 Christ must confess him, confession is declared to be 
 as necessary to salvation as faith : " Whosoever sliall 
 confess vie before men, Imn luill I confess also hefore 
 my Father ivhich is in heaven. But ivhosoever 
 shall deny me hefore men, him icill I also deny be- 
 fore my Father ivhich is in heaven,'' Matt., x., 32, 
 33. '^ If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the 
 Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God 
 hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 
 For %vith the heart ma7i believeth unto righteous- 
 ness, and ivith the mouth confession is mxide unto 
 salvation," Rom., x., 9, 10. ''But the fearful . . . 
 shall hav,e their 'part in the lake ivhich burneth 
 vnth fre and brimstone,'' Rev., xxi., 8. We are 
 
46 BAPTISM. 
 
 saved by grace through faith, without the deeds of 
 the law ; but faith without a confession of Christ is 
 impossible. And therefore, since confession is the 
 necessary manifestation of faith, it is as necessary to 
 salvation as faith is. And as baptism is an appoint- 
 ed method of confession, it is generally, to those who 
 know Christ's appointment, as necessary as confes- 
 sion is. Since, therefore, faith is said to save us, 
 because it is the instrument through which God saves 
 us, so baptism is said to save us, because it is the 
 necessary expression of true faith. If baptism is 
 placed before faith as the initiatory rite of catechu- 
 mens, we can not understand why it should be gen- 
 erally necessary to salvation ; but if it be placed after 
 faith, as its appointed expression, then its necessity 
 as a confession of Christ is plain. And this being 
 the case, we may conclude from this, as from other 
 passages of scripture, that baptism being made neces- 
 'sary to salvation in scripture is a profession of faith 
 in Christ made by a penitent believer. 
 
 From all these considerations, we may gather that 
 our Lord, in this commission, intended his ministers 
 first to convert men by preaching to them the Gos- 
 pel, then to baptize them as disciples, and finally to 
 urge them, when baptized, to be entirely obedient 
 to him as their Lord. The structure of this sentence, 
 when compared with sentences of similar structure 
 in the New Testament, establishes this meaning : it 
 is established by the meaning of the word " disciple," 
 which is equivalent to believer ; by the meaning of 
 immersion, which, as a spontaneous religious act, 
 involves a profession to renounce sin and lead a new 
 life ; by the prescribed baptismal form of immersion 
 
MEANING OF THE COMMISSION. 47 
 
 unto the name of God, which signifies consecration 
 to him ; by the place which the third command to 
 enforce obedience to Christ's laws must have in the 
 fulfillment of the commission ; by the order of the 
 terms in the parallel passage in Mark ; and by the 
 connection which that passage reveals between bap- 
 tism and salvation. On all these accounts we may 
 conclude that baptism, as a profession of repentance, 
 faith, and consecration to the Triune God, must be 
 preceded by faith and by discipleship to Christ. 
 
CHAPTER II. - 
 
 BAPTISM TO BE ADMINISTERED TO NONE BUT BE- 
 LIEVERS. 
 
 Having already proved that Christ has command- 
 ed his ministers to baptize believers, I proceed to 
 show that no one vi^ho does not make a consistent 
 profession of faith ought to be baptized. 
 
 I. Meaning of the CoMmssioN. 
 
 I . This follows directly from the commission giv- 
 en by Christ to the disciples ; for since he said to 
 them, "Go and disciple all nations, baptizing them," 
 thus directing them to make men disciples and then 
 to baptize them, whence can Christian ministers de- 
 rive authority to reverse that order ? Why did Christ 
 say that they were to baptize believers if faith was 
 not necessary to baptism ? If all men indiscrimin- 
 ately might be baptized, then with respect to bap- 
 tism faith was immaterial ; and if faith is immaterial 
 to baptism, why was it specified in the commission ? 
 "When Oliver Cromwell, who saw that the forces of 
 the Parliament were beaten by the troops of Charles 
 the First, because there were gentlemen in the ranks 
 of the royal army, and none but low men of worth- 
 less character in the other, sent out his recruiting 
 Bergeants to enlist godly and sober young men into 
 his regiment, would they have been entitled to enlist 
 
MEANING OF THE COMiMISSION. 49 
 
 drunkards and profligates because he had not ex- 
 pressly excluded them ? His specification of the 
 godly and the sober excluded all the rest. And 
 when the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded his 
 ministers to enlist believers under his banners by 
 baptism, he has excluded all the rest. When God 
 enjoined upon Abraham and on his children and 
 servants circumcision as the token of his covenant 
 with that family, the mention of these classes ex- 
 cluded all others. And unless they had received 
 express permission to admit proselytes into the priv- 
 ileges of the national covenant, they would have 
 had no right to admit them. So, when Christ has 
 declared that believers shall be admitted to the token 
 of the covenant of grace, no one else can be admit- 
 ted to that token without express permission ? To 
 have circumcised a heathen stranger without com- 
 mand from God would have been presumptuous in 
 the Israelites, and to baptize an unbeliever without 
 command from Christ must be presumptuous in a 
 Christian minister now. From our Lord's naming 
 believers as the proper subjects for baptism, it is 
 plain that none others must be baptized unless Chris- 
 tian ministers have his authority, expressed or im- 
 plied, to baptize them. And as he has never given 
 such permission it follows that none but those who 
 make a consistent profession of faith ought to be 
 baptized. 
 
 Our Lord has here forbidden any persons to apply 
 for baptism who are not true believers, and he has 
 forbidden his ministers to baptize any who do not 
 seem to be true believers. But as no man can read 
 another's heart, reason agrees with apostolic prece- 
 
 D 
 
50 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 dents to declare that no minister should refuse bap- 
 tism to a candidate of sound creed and of Christian 
 habits because he does not feel sure of his conver- 
 sion ; otherwise baptism might be refused to many 
 true believers. Real faith, therefore, warrants the 
 candidate to apply for baptism, and a credible pro- 
 fession of faith warrants the minister to receive him. 
 
 2. It appears, further, that no one but a believer 
 should be baptized from the nature of the profession 
 made in baptism. 
 
 Baptism being, as we have proved, a profession of 
 repentance and of a new life, in which the baptized 
 person is consecrated to God the Father, the Son, 
 and the Holy Ghost, no one but a believer can make 
 this profession without falsehood. 
 
 How can one who does not mean to renounce all 
 sin be immersed, to signify his death unto sin, with- 
 out hypocrisy ? How can one whose heart is un- 
 changed profess, by rising from the water, that he 
 means to live a new life of faith, of gratitude, of obe- 
 dience, of spirituality, when he has no such inten- 
 tion ? How can one who is still a votary of pleas- 
 ure, a servant of the world, a slave of Satan, profess, 
 without falsehood, to consecrate himself to God the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, by being im- 
 mersed in water unto the name of God ? And since 
 there is manifest falsehood in the profession made in 
 baptism by every unregenerate jierson, how can Chris- 
 tian ministers have authority from Christ to sanction 
 such falsehood by administering baptism to any per- 
 sons who are manifestly unconverted ? No one, 
 therefore, who does not make a consistent profession 
 of faith can be admitted to baptism without manifest 
 
JEWISH BAPTISM. 51 
 
 disregard of the nature of the ordinance, or without 
 sanctioning sin in the person baptized. 
 
 II. Jewish Baptism. 
 
 As the terms in which the disciples were com- 
 missioned to baptize, and the meaning of the pre- 
 scribed symbol, prove that our Lord meant believ- 
 ers to be baptized, and as he never authorized the 
 baptism of any others, we must conclude that he did 
 not intend any others to be baptized. Other con- 
 siderations confirm this conclusion. Among these I 
 may mention the consideration of the facts of Jew- 
 ish baptism. The baptism instituted by our Lord 
 being, like Jewish baptism, an immersion in water 
 for religious purposes, and the initiatory rite of his 
 religion, we may expect to find an analogy between 
 them. " We do not assume," says Mr. Godwin, 
 "that Christian baptism was in all respects the same 
 as Jewish baptism ; but as it possessed the same 
 form and bore the same appellation, at least a pre- 
 sumption exists that there is a general accordance. 
 Christianity has an external purification with water, 
 which is performed as a rehgious service, and which 
 is named a baptism : Judaism had external purifi- 
 cations with water, which were performed as relig- 
 ious services, and which were named baptisms ; and 
 one of them was a rite of initiation into Judaism. 
 In investigating the nature and usage of Christian 
 baptism, we ought to look to the known nature and 
 usage of similar rites ; and we may justly conclude 
 that agreement exists where difference is not proved." 
 — Godwin, 203, 204. At the same time, since the 
 first covenant was faulty (Heb., viii., 7, 8) ; since 
 
52 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 its ordinances were weak and beggarly elements of 
 religion (Gal., iv., 9), carnal ordinances (Heb., ix., 
 10), a system of types (Heb., ix., 9), havii^ a shad- 
 ow only of good things to come (Heb., x., 1), in 
 which the priest " served unto the example and 
 shadow of heavenly things" (Heb., viii., 5), we may 
 expect to find in its ordinances just such a difierence 
 as existed between a religion which, containing spir- 
 itual truth, was eminently ceremonial, and a relig- 
 ion which, containing some positive ordinances, was 
 eminently spiritual. This analogy and this differ- 
 ence between Jewish and Christian baptism evident- 
 ly exist. In Numbers, xix., 17-19, we read, " For 
 an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the 
 burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running wa- 
 ter shall be put thereto in a vessel. And the clean 
 person shall sprinkle upon the miclean on the third 
 day and on the seventh day ; and on the seventh 
 day he shall purify himself and wash his clothes, 
 and bathe hwiself in tvatei', and shall be clean at 
 even." Hence, as the heathen were unclean, they 
 were obliged, before they could be admitted into as- 
 sociation with the Jews, to be bathed or baptized ; 
 and this baptism was required of every proselyte. 
 «' When they received a proselyte to their religion, 
 they both circumcised and baptized liim ; affirming 
 that this baptism was a kind of regeneration, where- 
 by he was made a new man. . . . That the Jews 
 really did attach the idea of regeneration to baptism 
 in the case of converts is well known from Mai- 
 monides and other rabbins." — Calmet, "Baptism." 
 " Those that were thus initiated did put ofi" all their 
 former relations, not only their former worships and 
 
JEWISH BAPTISM. 53 
 
 manners, but their relations of kindred, and came 
 forth as if they had been new born of a new moth- 
 er, as the Talmud often expresses it." — Haynmond 
 on Matt., iii., 1. Let us observe that this baptism 
 was not the sign of a purification to be effected aft- 
 erward, but was itself a ceremonial purification. 
 When the unclean person was bathed, he was cere- 
 monially clean, Numb., xix., 19. "A person ap- 
 plying to the priest for purification professed by word 
 or deed that he was then free from the disease which 
 had occasioned his impurity. He was carefully ex- 
 amined by the priest that it might be known that 
 his profession was true. His baptism was a sign 
 of restored health ; and, in general, baptism was a 
 sign that there had been ceremonial impurity, and 
 that the occasion of this impurity was removed." — 
 Godwin, 207. So, when the proselyte was bap- 
 tized, he was legally clean. " Those who were 
 proselytes to Judaism, being unclean, were purified 
 with water." — Godwin, 207. Once immersed, 
 they might, as clean persons, participate in Jewish 
 ordinances. For this is the doctrine of the Mishna : 
 "As to a proselyte who becomes a proselyte on the 
 evening of the Passover, the followers of Shammai 
 say, Let him be baptized, and let him eat the pass- 
 over in the evening." — Wilso?i, 190. Thus we see 
 just so much analogy and so much difference be- 
 tween the Jewish and Christian baptism as the na- 
 ture of the two religions indicated. Jewish baptism 
 was the sign of a ceremonial cleansing. Christian 
 baptism the sign of a spiritual cleansing ; the one 
 signified a change of external condition, the other a 
 change of spiritual condition ; the one a renunciation 
 
54 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 of heathenism, the other a renunciation of sin ; the 
 one a new Jewish Ufe, the other a new spiritual Ufe ; 
 the one a total change of habits, the other a total 
 change of heart ; the one admitted to the society of 
 Jews, the other to the society of saints : both re- 
 garded what was done already, as well as what was 
 to be done afterward ; both were the profession of 
 a past change, and of a present resolution to lead 
 another life. The proselyte was not baptized that 
 he might afterward be taught how to become a Jew, 
 but because he now became one ; and so the Chris- 
 tian proselyte is not baptized that he may be taught 
 how to become a Christian, but because he is al- 
 ready become one. As repentance for heathemsm,_ 
 and faith in the authority of Moses, were to precede 
 Jewish baptism, so repentance for sin and faith in 
 the Redeemer were to precede Christian baptism. 
 As the baptized Jewish proselyte became, by Jew- 
 ish baptism, the avowed disciple of Moses, entitled 
 to all Mosaic ordinances, so the baptized Christian 
 proselyte becomes, by Christian baptism, the avow- 
 ed disciple of Christ, entitled to all Christian ordi- 
 nances. The Jewish baptism was intended for none 
 but believers in Moses, the Christian baptism is in- 
 tended for none but believers in Christ. As a 
 change of opinions and habits preceded an introduc- 
 tion to the society of Jews, so a change of heart 
 and life ought to precede an introduction to the 
 communion of saints. 
 
 III. Baptism of John. 
 
 We may, further, be led to conclude that none 
 but believers should receive baptism by considering 
 
BAPTISM OF JOHN. 55 
 
 the administration of baptism by John the Baptist. 
 John came as the forerunner of Jesus, to bear wit- 
 ness to him, and to lead men to repentance as a prep- 
 aration for the doctrine of salvation by grace through 
 faith. The Almighty, by Isaiah and by Malachi, 
 thus predicted his ministry : " The voice of him that 
 crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the 
 Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our 
 God," Isaiah, xl., 3. " Behold, I will send you Eli- 
 jah the prophet before the coming of the great and 
 dreadful day of the Lord ; and he shall turn the heart 
 of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the chil- 
 dren to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth 
 with a curse," Mai., iv., 5, 6. According, then, to 
 the Old Testament, John was to be a great reformer, 
 and to preach with great success. The same was 
 predicted by the angel who appeared to his father 
 Zacharias in the temple : " Many of the children of 
 Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God ; and he 
 shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, 
 to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and 
 the disobedient to the wisdom of the just ; to make 
 ready a people prepared for the Lord," Luke, i., 16, 
 1 7. And his father himself predicted, " Thou, child, 
 shalt be called the prophet of the Highest ; for thou 
 shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his 
 ways ; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people 
 by the remission of their sins," Luke, i., 76, 77. 
 
 At length John began his ministry, and called men 
 to repent, because " the kingdom of God was at hand," 
 Matt., iii., 2. Thus he required two things : first, 
 a thorough change of mind and life, expressed by the 
 word "repentance ;" and faith in the Redeemer to 
 
56 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 come, to whom, indeed, he repeatedly bore witness, 
 John, i., 6—8, 23—36. A disciple of John, there- 
 fore, was one who repented of his sins, and believed 
 that the promised Christ was about to appear. The 
 prophets predicted that he was to make many such. 
 But what evidence have we of the fulfillment of their 
 predictions, except that numbers were baptized by 
 him ? " Then went out to him Jerusalem and all 
 Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and 
 were baptized of him in Jordan." I know no other 
 proof that the ministry of John corresponded to the 
 predictions concerning him ; and the value of this 
 proof depends upon the conditions of his baptism. If 
 he baptized all applicants indiscriminately, then there 
 is no proof whatever that he " made ready a people 
 prepared for the Lord," because superstitious or sor- 
 did motives may have induced numbers to apply for 
 baptism. But if he baptized those only who solemn- 
 ly professed to repent and to believe in the Christ 
 shortly to come, then the multitudes who were bap- 
 tized by him show that he signally fulfilled the proph- 
 ecies concerning him. It is, therefore, probable — 
 since he certainly fulfilled those prophecies, and the 
 sacred narratives record no other proof of the fulfill- 
 ment — that these numerous baptisms furnish that 
 proof, and that those who were baptized by John made 
 a solemn profession of their repentance and faith. 
 
 It is improbable that John would baptize on lower 
 terms, because he declared that the approach of the 
 kingdom of heaven called for repentance (Matt., iii., 
 2) ; and as he was the herald of Christ, appointed to 
 lead men to a more spiritual dispensation than that 
 of Moses, he would not be satisfied with lower quali- 
 
BAPTISM OF JOHN. 57 
 
 fications for baptism than those which were demand- 
 ed by the Jewish priests. If a heathen wished for 
 Jewish baptism, he must renoimce his idols, profess 
 his beUef in the divine authority of Moses, and prom- 
 ise obedience to the Mosaic laws : would John, then, 
 baptize a Jew unless he renounced his sins, and pro- 
 fessed beUef in the approaching advent of Christ, with 
 his intention to keep the commands of God ? What 
 he had ever seen demanded in the initiatory rite of 
 the more carnal religion, he would not dispense with 
 in the initiatory rite which was to enroll men under 
 his ministry as expectants of the Messiah. 
 
 The narrative shows that he did enforce these con- 
 ditions of baptism. In Mark, i., 4, we read, "John 
 did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism 
 of repentance for the remission of sins," Luke, iii., 2 ; 
 Acts, xiii., 24. If we suppose, with the advocates of 
 indiscriminate baptism, that this expression means a 
 baptism which demanded repentance — and less than 
 this assuredly the words could not mean — then his 
 baptism must have involved a profession of repent- 
 ance on the part of the baptized. For to apply for 
 a baptism which pledged them to repent, while they 
 were avowedly impenitent, would be mockery. Im- 
 agine a person coming to John to be baptized, declar- 
 ing that he did not repent of his sins and had not turn- 
 ed to God, but that he wished to be instructed, and 
 allowed the necessity of repentance, of what use would 
 such baptism be ? He could be instructed just as 
 well before baptism, and since baptism signified the 
 necessity of a total renunciation of sin, to receive it 
 without being grieved for sin, or intending to renounce 
 it, was to violate the baptismal instruction while re- 
 
58 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT REI.IEVEBS. 
 
 ceiving it. The repentance, moreover, to which John 
 called them was connected with the expectation of 
 Christ, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand." " John baptized with the baptism of repent- 
 ance, saying unto the people that they should believe 
 on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ 
 Jesus," Acts, xix., 4. If, therefore, any one asked 
 for baptism while disbelieving the near advent of the 
 Redeemer, he was rejecting the doctrine of John, and 
 John would certainly not baptize as one of his disci- 
 ples any one who rejected his doctrine. The char- 
 acter, therefore, of John's baptism renders it probable 
 that he administered it to none but those who pro- 
 fessed to be penitent believers in the Savior to come. 
 And the evangelists declare that this was the pro- 
 fession of those who came to be baptized by him. 
 Matthew relates, that they " were baptized of him 
 in Jordan, e^ofj.o?.oyov[i£voL, confessing their sins."* 
 Those who were baptized by him did not o^\m their 
 sins reluctantly, but earnestly ; not slightly, but 
 fully, as the word, e^ofio/ioyovfievoi, here used means. 
 Such confessions make the penitent accept the Gos- 
 pel fully. " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs 
 is the kingdom of heaven," Matt., v., 3. Such con- 
 fessions were like those of the publican who was de- 
 clared by Jesus to receive pardon, Luke, xviii., 13. 
 David knew their value when he wrote, " I said, I 
 will confess my transgressions unto the Lord ; and 
 thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin," Ps. xxxii., 5. 
 Paul recognized it when he WTote, " Godly sorrow 
 
 * " ^'E^ofio?.oyovfievoi Tug ujnapriag avruv, fully confessing 
 their sins ; i^o/ioAoyeofiai, to confess in full." — Liddell. " Libere 
 diserteque — freely and copiously." — Bengel. 
 
BAPTISM OF JOHN. 59 
 
 worketh repentance to salvation," 2 Cor., vii., 10. 
 And the promise to them is ample and explicit : 
 " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to for- 
 give us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unright- 
 eousness," 1 John, i., 9. Such confessions show that 
 many of those baptized by John were real penitents. 
 
 The same truth is intimated by the following ex- 
 pression used by John in his ministry, " I indeed 
 baptize you eig {lerdvoLav, unto repentance," Matt., 
 iii., 11 ; for by these words he declared that repent- 
 ance must accompany his baptism, and that not at 
 any distant time, but then. Thus the expression 
 used by Peter to the Jewish multitude, " Repent, 
 and be baptized eig acpeoLV aiiapriibv, unto the re-" 
 mission of sins," signified the necessary and imme- 
 diate effect of baptism. Acts, ii., 38. Similarly, the 
 expression used by our Lord at the institution of the 
 Supper, " This do, elg rriv kfiriv dvd[j,vr](7Lv, unto a 
 recollection of me," or "for a remembrance of me" 
 (Luke, xxii., 19), means a recollection of him at the 
 same time. The words, therefore, used by John 
 signify that those who come to his baptism must re- 
 pent at the same time. Now as the water could 
 not effect repentance, and yet the repentance must 
 be felt then, it is plain that the applicants must have 
 repented before, and that, coming to baptism with a 
 penitent heart, they there confirmed their repentance. 
 They were baptized unto repentance, ?'. e., unto a 
 profession of repentance, as Christians are baptized 
 unto the name of God, or unto a profession of devo- 
 tedness to him. 
 
 This view is further confirmed by the following 
 expression of John : " The Pharisees had heard that 
 
60 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John," 
 John, iv., 1. According to these words, to make 
 disciples is a different thing from baptizing them, 
 and the one is prior to the other. Jesus made dis- 
 ciples, and then, by the hands of his disciples, bap- 
 tized them. But the same thing is also said of John, 
 for the words mean, " John made disciples and bap- 
 tized them, but Jesus made and baptized more." 
 All, therefore, who received baptism from John were 
 first his disciples. Now a disciple was one who at 
 least accepted his chief doctrines, the need of repent- 
 ance and the approach of the Redeemer. No one 
 was, therefore, a disciple who did not acknowledge 
 his need of fierdvoLa, a change of mind, and look for 
 the Redeemer, and no others were baptized. Moved 
 by fashion or interest, probably many of the Scribes 
 and Pharisees applied for baptism ; but as he knew 
 the character of their class, if not their individual 
 character, instead of welcoming them to his baptism, 
 he exclaimed, " O generation of vipers, who hath 
 warned you to flee from the wrath to come ? Bring 
 forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance," Matt., 
 iii., 7, 8. " The Sadducees were as proud of their 
 superior discernment as the Pharisees of their supe- 
 rior sanctity, and with as little reason. But neither 
 of them were prepared, by repentance and humilia- 
 tion before God, to welcome the mercy and spiritual 
 blessings of the Messiah. Instead, therefore, of sanc- 
 tioning their character or of courting their favor, 
 John plainly, and even roughly, addressed them as 
 a generation of vipers, a race of subtle, designing 
 men, of poisonous principles and practice, dangerous 
 to all around them, the genuine children of the old 
 
BAPTISM OF JOHN. ftl' 
 
 serpent. If, however, they truly repented, they might 
 be admitted to his baptism." — Scott; Matt., iii., 
 7-10. 
 
 Here let me add the testimony of Josephus to the 
 fact that John required from those who came to him 
 for baptism a previous profession of repentance and 
 faith, premising that Josephus lived so near to the 
 time of John that he must have learned from many 
 of his disciples the character and circumstances of 
 his baptism. " Herod slew him, who was a good 
 man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, 
 both as to righteousness toward one another and pi" 
 ety toward God, and so come to baptism. For that 
 the washing would be acceptable to him, if they 
 made use of it, not in order to the putting away of 
 some sins, but for the purification of the body, sicp- 
 2)OSi7ig still that the soul was tlioroughly inirijied 
 beforehand by righteoiosnessr — Ant.^ xviii., 5, 
 Whisto?i's Tra7islatio)i. 
 
 These and similar considerations have brought 
 the best expositors of Scripture to much agreement 
 on this matter. 
 
 Henry says, <' Those who received his doctrine 
 and submitted to his discipline were baptized of him 
 in Jordan, thereby professing their repentance and 
 their belief that the kingdom of the Messiah was at 
 hand. They testified their repentance by confessing 
 their sins." 
 
 " Baptism in the adult," says Doddi'idge on Acts, 
 xxii., 16, "excepting in the very peculiar instance 
 of our Lord, was a token of confession and humiUa- 
 tion for sin, on which account it is called the bap- 
 tism of repentance (Matt., iii., 11 ; Mark, i., 4, 
 
63 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 &c.), and of a desire to be cleansed from it, and be- 
 ing administered to such professed penitents by di- 
 vine appointment, as a token of favorable regard to 
 them, it v^^as a seal of pardon." 
 
 "It is most certain that a profession of faith and 
 repentance was ordinarily required before the bap- 
 tism of adult persons." — Poole on Matt., iii., 6. 
 
 " They aclmowledged in words their sinfulness 
 and guilt, professed repentance for and a detestation 
 of all their sins, and submitted to be baptized in 
 token of their being convinced of their need of par- 
 don and purification." — Benson. 
 
 " Adult Jews, professing repentance and a dispo- 
 sition to become Messiah's subjects, Avere the only 
 persons whom John admitted to baptism. . . . John 
 baptized the people with water, calling them to re- 
 pentance, and making baptism their outward pro- 
 fession of it, and the avowed beginning of a new 
 life." — Scott. 
 
 And Mr. Godwin admits that the baptism of John 
 indicated "a professed willingness to commence" "a 
 new course of life," "embodying in a public act the 
 resolution to pursue purity," and was " the avowal 
 of a present resolution to live in the manner re- 
 quired," made by "professed penitents." — Godwin^ 
 235, 236. 
 
 To this view there are some objections, which 
 shall here be noticed : 
 
 1 . ' It is impossible that John should examine such 
 numbers AAdth a view to determine their conversion.' 
 
 Ans. (1.) They were either baptized as penitent 
 believers who had received his doctrine, or as cate- 
 chumens desiring to be taught by him. It would 
 
BAPTISM OF JOHN. 63 
 
 require as much time to teach them the doctrines 
 and duties of rehgion after baptism as before it. 
 (2.) It is not asserted that he ascertained their con- 
 version, but that he required a profession of repent- 
 ance and faith in the approaching advent of Christ, 
 which would require very little time. 
 
 2. 'John baptized all applicants, because he said 
 to them all, I baptize you with water, Luke, iii., 16.' 
 
 Ans. As John said to all the people respecting 
 Christ, " He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost," 
 when it is certain that Christ baptized in the Holy 
 Spirit none but believers, so when he said to them 
 at the same time, " I baptize you in water," he 
 meant that he also baptized penitent believers, Luke, 
 iii., 16. 
 
 3. ' Since "Jerusalem and all Judea" were bap- 
 tized by John (Matt., iii., 5, 6), it is not conceivable 
 that all the baptized were penitent believers.' 
 
 Ans. (1.) It is no more difficult to imagine that 
 all the baptized repented, than that they all " fully 
 confessed" their sins ; and yet we know that they 
 thus confessed them, Matt., iii., 6. (2.) It is not 
 asserted that they were all penitent believers, but 
 that they all made a solemn profession of repentance 
 and faith ; which is proved by the statement that 
 they fully confessed their sins (Matt., iii., 6), and that 
 they were disciples, John, iv., 1. 
 
 4. ' If baptism signified a profession of repentance, 
 how could Jesus Christ be baptized ?" 
 
 A71S. If the eating of the Passover signified faith 
 in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, how could Jesus 
 eat the Passover ? His case was an exception : and 
 he was baptized <' to fulfill all righteousness," ^. e., 
 
64 BAPTIS3I TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 to honor that divine ordinance of baptism, and bear 
 witness to John's prophetic commission, Matt., iii., 1 5. 
 
 5. 'We read (Luke, vii., 29), the Pharisees and 
 lawyers rejected the counsel of God against them- 
 selves, being not baptized of John. If John refused 
 to baptize them, they could not be said to reject hia 
 baptism.' 
 
 Ans. They rejected his baptism by rejecting its 
 conditions. They were called to repent and be bap- 
 tized ; and refusing to repent, they rejected both re- 
 pentance and baptism, saying of John, " He hath a 
 devil," Luke, vii., 32. 
 
 On the whole, then, we see that there was a sim- 
 ilarity in John's baptism to the baptism of Jewish 
 proselytes, and a difference between them. This 
 baptism was designed for similar ends, but it was 
 more spiritual ; it required a similar profession, but 
 one more complete. The priests said to the hea- 
 then, *• Repent, for the Jews are the people of God ;" 
 John said to the Jews, " Repent, for the kingdom of 
 heaven is at hand." They required the renuncia- 
 tion of idols, he the renunciation of sin ; they demand- 
 ed faith in the authority of Moses, he in the coming 
 Savior ; they demanded obedience to the Mosaic 
 law, he to the whole will of God. The disciple of 
 the priests renounced idolatry, conformed to the Mo- 
 saic ritual, and was baptized ; the disciple of John 
 confessed his sins, avowed his belief that the Christ 
 was at hand, and was baptized. All this, if I mis- 
 take not, Mr. Godwin virtually admits when he says 
 that John's baptism indicated " a professed willing- 
 ness to commence a new course of life" (p. 235) ; 
 and the " avowal of a present resolution to live in 
 
BAPTISM OF JOHN. 65 
 
 the manner required" (2^, 235); so that each bap- 
 tized person was a "professed penitent" (p. 236). 
 For if a man really " wills to commence a new course 
 of life," he does commence it ; and if he " resolves 
 to live a godly life," he does live it, since each man 
 lives as he wills and resolves to live. And if each 
 of John's disciples professed this willingness and 
 avowed this resolution at the time of baptism, they 
 were, as Mr. Godwin says, " professed penitents ;" 
 they made a profession of repentance and faith ; and 
 none were baptized by John but those who, in pro- 
 fession at least, were penitent believers. 
 
 IV". First Baptisms by the Disciples op Christ. 
 
 While John was baptizing Jesus began his minis- 
 try, and his earliest disciples, imitating the custom 
 of the priests and the practice of John, began to 
 baptize disciples to him. The following is the only 
 notice of this fact to be found in the four evangel- 
 ists : '< After these things came Jesus and his disci- 
 ples into the land of Judea ; and there he tarried 
 with them, and baptized. . . . And they (John's 
 disciples) came unto John, and said unto him, Rab- 
 bi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom 
 thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and 
 all men come to him," John, iii., 22, 26. "When, 
 therefore, the Lord knew how the Pharisees had 
 heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples 
 than John (though Jesus himself baptized not, but 
 his disciples), he left Judea," John, iv., 1-3. The 
 manner in which this practice of the first disciples is 
 here mentioned, without any recorded command of 
 Christ, before the disciples had been called by him 
 
 E 
 
66 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 to any ministry, while they were yet very partially 
 instructed, without the slightest comment by the 
 evangelist upon the nature of the transaction, shows 
 that the disciples were simply imitating the practice 
 of John and the custom of their country. It fol- 
 lows, that their baptism resembled in its general 
 character the baptisms by the priests and the bap- 
 tism by Jolm. In each case the baptism implied 
 the renunciation of evil and assenting to the doctrine 
 and corrwnandment of the person baptizing. As 
 those who were baptized by the priests renounced 
 idolatry, and those who were baptized by John re- 
 nounced sin, so those who were baptized by these 
 disciples renounced sin. As those baptized by the 
 priests conformed to the Mosaic ritual, and those 
 baptized by John professed their belief of his doc- 
 trine, so those baptized by the disciples professed 
 their belief in the doctrine of Jesus. And this is 
 declared by the brief record which states that Jesus 
 <« made and baptized disciples," John, iv., 1. The 
 disciples, therefore, baptized those only who were 
 first made their fellow-disciples. 
 
 V. Apostolic Baptisms. 
 
 We will now examine in succession the cases of 
 baptism subsequent to the resurrection of our Lord, 
 which furnish the most explicit and unanswerable 
 commentary upon the commission to baptize, which 
 he had previously given to his disciples. 
 
 BajUism of three Thousand Convert?, at the Day of 
 Pentecost. — Acts, ii. 
 
 On the day of Pentecost, the feast of first fruits, 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS. 67 
 
 upon which God meant to gather the first fruits of 
 a universal harvest of souls, the Holy Spirit who 
 had been so long promised, the great Teacher who 
 was to glorify Christ and to change the condition of 
 the world, was at length bestowed on the Church of 
 Christ. About one hundred and twenty disciples, 
 including the eleven apostles, and many, doubtless, 
 of the seventy evangelists, had continued in prayer to 
 God, and were waiting for the promised Spirit, when 
 suddenly they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. 
 Bathed in a divine influence, of Avhich the sound of 
 a rushing wind which filled the house, and cloven 
 tongues of fire resting on each, wer« the external 
 signs, they were at once new men. Animated with 
 zeal and charity, with faith and hope, with desire to 
 glorify Jesus and to save sinners, with resistless 
 wisdom and with inexliaustible patience they began 
 to preach Christ to the multitudes then gathered 
 within the walls of Jerusalem. Thousands of devout 
 persons, who, though prejudiced, perhaps, and super- 
 stitious, still were earnest in religion, (ivdpeq evXa- 
 Selg, were met to keep the feast of first fruits.^ In ten 
 or twelve different languages these rude and simple 
 Gahleans began to preach to the multitudes ; groups 
 from the difierent nations gathered round the speakers, 
 who were pouring forth a tide of holy eloquence in 
 their several languages, as they " spoke the wonderful 
 works of God," rd fxeyaXela rov Qeov. Their minds 
 and hearts were full of Christ and of salvation by his 
 atoning blood, Luke, xxiv., 52, 53. And now that 
 
 * Acts> ii., 5 : "Avdpec evla^elg. Ev?,a^rjg, devout, reverential, 
 Luke, ii., 25 ; Acts, viii., 2, from ev2,a(3iojuai, to reverence God, 
 Heb., xi., 7. See Liddell. 
 
68 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 the Holy Spirit gave them utterance to speak of the 
 " magnificent things" of God, they must have ex- 
 pounded fully to the people their guilt and ruin by 
 nature and practice with the atoning death and glo- 
 rious triumph of Christ their Savior (11). The 
 miraculous utterance excited in the crowd the ut- 
 most astonishment, and their attention being fully 
 gained, these great truths, so demonstrated, still 
 more excited their wonder (12). Then it was that 
 Peter addressed the Jews of Jerusalem, and the 
 devout strangers surrounding them (14). All this, 
 he declared, was the work of the Spirit promised by 
 God through the Prophet Joel (14—18), and afforded 
 proof that the great predicted day of the Lord was 
 at hand (16—20). Jesus had been wickedly mur- 
 dered by them according to the purpose of God, but 
 according to prophecy had been raised from the 
 dead, of which they were all witnesses (22—32) ; that 
 crucified Jesus was ascended to glory ; it was he who 
 had given them the Holy Spirit, of which they then 
 saw the undeniable and marvelous proofs (33); and 
 he was thus proved to be Lord and Christ, who 
 would make his foes his footstool (33—36). Num- 
 bers who heard this were pricked in the heart, Kare- 
 vvyrjoav t^ Kapdia ; all that they saw and heard 
 convinced them that Jesus was the true, the great, 
 the long-expected, the triumphant Messiah. He 
 had come and been rejected, hated, crucified. Some 
 had, probably, actively shared in his murder ; some 
 had justified the priests: all must have been talking 
 and hearing of his recent crucifixiGn ; and probably, 
 following their hierarchy, had condemned him as an 
 impostor and blasphemer. It being impossil)]e that 
 
APUBTULIC BAPTISMS. 69 
 
 this event was unnoticed by them (see 22, 23 ; Matt., 
 xxi., 8, 10, 12), and almost impossible that they had 
 not, through prejudice, condemned him, we may in- 
 fer that they felt the guilt of the nation and their 
 own. If he was the Lord of all, and they his ene- 
 mies, what would become of them ? Convinced, 
 therefore, of their sin and danger by the Holy Spirit 
 working with the word (Mark, xvi,, 20 ; Heb., ii. 
 4 ; 1 Pet., i., 12), they exclaimed, " Men and breth 
 ren, what shall we do ?" (37). To whom Peter re 
 plied, " Repent, and be baptized, every one of you 
 in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins 
 and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (38) 
 They were thus called to renounce their sins, especial- 
 ly to turn from their sin of unbelief, to believe in Je- 
 sus as Lord and Christ, to confess their faith in him 
 by being baptized in his name, and then they would 
 have a free and full forgiveness, with an influence 
 from the Holy Spirit, such as had been promised by 
 the Prophet Joel, and such as they, the apostles and 
 disciples of Jesus, then possessed. Much explana- 
 tory conversation followed (40). To that complete 
 lierdvoLa, conversion, that open profession of faith, 
 and the remission of sins which would instantly at- 
 tend it, they were called then. In much fervent ex- 
 hortation, with a fuller explanation of these great 
 truths, with more detail of facts and doctrines, the 
 apostle continued to address them. "With many 
 other words did he testify and exhort, saying. Save 
 yourselves from this untoward generation" (40). 
 Upon this aG\JLevG)<; dnode^dfiEVoi, they "gladly" and 
 completely "received his word" (41). They re- 
 ceived his declaration that Jesus was Lord and 
 
70 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS*. 
 
 Christ, and believed ; they received his exhortation 
 to turn to God, and they turned and repented unto 
 life (Luke, iii., 3 ; xxiv., 47 ; Acts, v., 31 ; 2 Cor., 
 vii., 10) ; they believed in the promise of pardon, and 
 relied on the promised gift of the Spirit (30) ; they 
 determined to seek salvation (40) ; for all this, and 
 more, is included in their hearty reception of his 
 word, and, therefore, though deeply convinced of sin 
 (37), they rejoiced in this great salvation (41). The 
 suddenness of their conversion is not surprising : they 
 vv^ere devout persons, acquainted therefore with the 
 Scriptures ; the facts were wonderful, the proofs were 
 complete ; already the nation was plunged in guilt 
 by having rejected and crucified him ; inestimable 
 blessings, of which those miraculous gifts of the Spirit 
 which they witnessed were pledges, would follow their 
 faith ; if there was reason to becom.e disciples of Je- 
 sus at all, there was reason to turn to him then : 
 that was a day appointed for glorifying Christ, and 
 there was the Omnipotent Spirit in all his power. 
 In one hour Zaccheus had welcomed Christ ; the 
 dying thief had been converted as he hung upon the 
 cross ; Paul, the blaspheming persecutor, became at 
 once a zealous apostle; so these were "made will- 
 ing in the day of Christ's power," Psalm ex., 3. 
 Their eager looks and earnest tones ; their applica- 
 tion for baptism, though it would expose them, to per- 
 secution,^ and their thorough acquiescence in all that 
 they heard preached to them, indicated to the apos- 
 tles that they were earnest and sincere disciples ; and, 
 professing to be penitent believers — for how else could 
 
 * John, ix., 22 ; Acts, iv,, 3 ; v., 16, 33, 40 ; vii., 54, 59 ; viii,, 
 1-3 ; ix., 1-3 ; 1 Thess., ii., 14 ; Heb., x., 32, 33, &c., &c. 
 
APOriTOLIC BAPTISMS, 71 
 
 the historian know that they '< gladly received his 
 word ?" (41) — they were baptized. The result 
 shows that the apostles judged of them rightly ; for 
 the evangelist records that they were added that day 
 — they were added to the believers in Jesus — added 
 to the saved. The same word is used, and the same 
 thing is recorded as in the 47th verse, " The Lord add- 
 ed to the Church that day three thousand oco^ofievovgy 
 saved," and of this they forthwith afforded proofs ; 
 for after professing their faith by baptism, they con- 
 tinued steadfast in maintaining the doctrine of the 
 apostles, sought their society, received with them the 
 Lord's Supper, persevered in united supplication. 
 Many parted with their property to supply the wants 
 of the poorer brethren ; all were filled with joy and 
 with gratitude to God ; and converts were added 
 daily to their number (42—47). So that with re- 
 spect to these three thousand converts, there is not 
 only evidence that they made a profession of repent- 
 ance and faith, but that with respect to the great 
 majority their rejDentance and faith were real. They 
 were that day converted and saved. 
 
 It may be noticed that the apostles baptized the 
 three thousand converts the same day on which they 
 first heard the Gospel, when most of them were 
 strangers to the members of the Church, and when, 
 it was impossible to test their sincerity. Was this 
 consistent with the idea that baptism is meant only 
 for believers ? It was ; for this was the day of the 
 Lord's power. The preachers were " filled with the 
 Holy Ghost" (4) ; the convictions of the multitude 
 were deep and pungent (37) ; they testified much 
 joy (41). They expected persecution, shame, loss, 
 
72 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 and death itself, as the consequence of their faith, 
 and would not offer themselves to baptism without 
 very strong belief and decided courage. Under these 
 circumstances, the apostles, without supernatural 
 knowledge of other men's hearts, could discern the 
 tokens of that sound conversion which so soon issued 
 in remarkable piety and zeal. 
 
 It has been said, indeed, that they had no reason 
 to expect persecution, since they had " favor with 
 all the people" (47). But no one of them could 
 expect to escape persecution. Jesus having been 
 recently crucified as a blasphemer through the in- 
 fluence of the priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, these 
 now found that they were charged by his disciples 
 with the judicial murder of the Christ. It was im- 
 possible that they should tolerate a doctrine which 
 was incompatible with their interests and scarcely 
 consistent with their safety. They had persecuted 
 Christ to death as an impostor and blasphemer, an 
 enemy of their religion and country. Scarcely any 
 of the rulers had believed on him ; not a singjle 
 priest, not a solitary Pharisee, had become his disci- 
 ple ; and if three thousand men out of perhaps five 
 hundred thousand, assembled from all countries, now 
 professed their faith in him, how could they expect 
 any thing from the priests and from the people but 
 contempt and hatred ? Events soon indicated the 
 temper of the most powerful men in the nation. 
 Within a few months the apostles were arrested for 
 preaching Christ (Acts, iv., 1-3) ; shortly after they 
 were again put into prison (Acts, v., 17), and were 
 then beaten (40). After another short period, 
 Stephen, one of the deacons of the Church, was 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS. 73 
 
 stoned to death as a blasphemer, amid the execra- 
 tions of the Sanhedrim (vii.). Again we read, "At 
 that time there was a great persecution against the 
 Church which was at Jerusalem ; and they were 
 all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea 
 and Samaria, except the apostles. ... As for Saul, 
 he made havoc of the Church, entering into every 
 house, and haling men and women, committed them 
 to prison" (viii,, 1— 3) ; " and when they were put 
 to death he gave his voice against them" (xxvi., 10). 
 The conversion of Saul brought a short rest to the 
 churches (ix., 31). But about A.D. 43, or ten 
 years after the death of Christ, the Apostle James 
 was martyred by Herod, who, because " he saw it 
 pleased the Jews," determined to kill Peter also (xii., 
 1—3). To the members of the churches of Judea 
 generally the Apostle Paul could say, " Call to re- 
 membrance the former days, in which ye endured a 
 great fight of afflictions ; partly, while ye were made 
 a gazing-stock, both by reproaches and afflictions ; 
 and partly, while ye became companions of them 
 that were so used," Heb., x., 32, 33. What less 
 had Jesus promised to his disciples when he uttered 
 the following words ? '•' Behold, I send you forth as 
 sheep in the midst of wolves. Beware of men ; for 
 they will deliver you up to the councils, and they 
 will scourge you in their synagogues. And the 
 brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and 
 the father the child ; and the children shall rise up 
 against their parents, and cause them to be put to 
 death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my 
 name's sake," Matt., x., 16, 17, 21, 22, 34-36. 
 '• If ye were of the world, the world would love his 
 
71 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 own ; but because ye are not of the world, but I have 
 chosen you out of the world, therefore the world 
 hateth you. If they have persecuted me, they will 
 also persecute you," John, xv., 19, 20. The apostles 
 were too honest and too wise not to set all this be- 
 fore those to whom they preached. Indeed, no one 
 needed warning. The reasons why the priests and 
 Scribes should hate the doctrine of Christ were too 
 obvious. The hatred itself was already too appar- 
 ent. Hence few Jews would profess their belief in 
 the doctrine of Christ without entire conviction of 
 its truth and great earnestness. And of all these 
 three thousand baptized persons the apostles had 
 good reason to think that the profession of repentance 
 and faith was sincere. 
 
 Indeed, they appear to have become eminently 
 pious, if the diligent use of means, continued prayer, 
 unparalleled generosity, ardent gratitude, and gener- 
 al joy, can prove it ; and the indications of this earn- 
 est feeling must have been from the first apparent. 
 
 Baptism of the Sa'niaritans, — Acts, viii., 5, 25. 
 
 When the members of the Church at Jerusalem 
 were driven from their homes by persecution, they 
 " went every where preaching the word," Acts, viii., 
 4. On that occasion, Philip, who had been chosen 
 by the Church at Jerusalem one of its deacons, be- 
 cause he was "full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom" 
 (Acts, v., 2—5), visited the city of Samaria^ and 
 there preached Christ, Acts, viii., 5. As his preach- 
 
 * Which might be translated, a city of Samaria. — See John, 
 iv., 5, Greek. 
 
APaSTOLIC BAPTISM!;. 75 
 
 iag was accompanied by miracles, the people listened 
 earnestly, and were "filled with joy at what they 
 saw and heard" (6—8). We know what he preach- 
 ed. A man full of the Holy Ghost, preaching Christ 
 to an attentive people, must have told them of their 
 ruin by nature, of the love of God to mankind, of the 
 atonement wrought out by Christ, of salvation by 
 grace through faith to all that believe, of their need 
 of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, of the hell which 
 awaits unpardoned sinners, and of the heaven to 
 which believers will be admitted. All this, with 
 much more, he preached to them. When Paul 
 preached among the Gentiles, he simply preached 
 Christ as Philip did (1 Cor., i., 23 ; ii., 2, 4), and 
 the chief business of the apostles was to be witnesses 
 for Christ (Acts, i., 8) ; but the effect of this testi- 
 mony was to be the conversion of multitudes (Acts, 
 xxvi., 17, 18), and, in fact, numerous churches of 
 saints were formed in many lands by this simple 
 preaching of Christ. Numerous miracles proved the 
 truth of the facts which Philip declared. Demoni- 
 acs were rescued from the power of the devil, para- 
 lytic persons received strength, and the lame were 
 healed (6, 7). The circumstances at the time add- 
 ed greatly to the force of the testimony of Philip. 
 Persecution was at this time raging ; believers were 
 arrested in their houses and hurried to prison (Acts, 
 viii., 1— 3) ; some were beaten, some compelled to 
 blaspheme, some were killed (Acts, xxvi., 10, 11) ; 
 and when, under these circumstances, he, being driv- 
 en from Jerusalem, preached to the Samaritans, they 
 listened (6), they received his word (14) ; and "when 
 they believed Philip preaching the things concerning 
 
76 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 the kingdom of God aud the name of Jesus Christ, 
 they were baptized, both men and women" (12). 
 
 Let us recollect how plainly salvation is in the 
 New Testament annexed to faith : "As many as 
 received him, to them gave he power to become the 
 sons of God, even to them that believe on his name," 
 John, i., 12. " God so loved the world that he gave 
 his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life," 
 John, iii., 16. See also John, iii., 36 ; vi., 47 ; Acts, 
 xiii., 39, 48 ; xvi., 31 ; Pwom., i., 16 ; iii., 22; ix., 
 33 ; 2 Thess., i., 10 ; 1 John, v., 10. Let us re- 
 member, too, that a thorough belief of the facts and 
 doctrines of the Gospel implies saving faith in Christ, 
 as is stated in scripture : " If thou shalt confess with 
 thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt beheve in thy 
 heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou 
 shalt be saved," E.om., x., 9. " Whosoever believ- 
 eth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. . . Who 
 is he that overcometh the world, but he that believ- 
 eth that Jesus is the Son of God ?" 1 John, v., 1, 5. 
 Hence the expression in the text, " They believed 
 Philip," who preached Christ, amounts to a decla- 
 ration that they believed in Christ. To this it is 
 added that ''they received the word of God" (14). 
 When the three thousand were converted at Pente- 
 cost, it is said " they gladly received the word of 
 Peter," Acts, ii., 41. When the Bereans received 
 the word, they believed, Acts, xvii., 11, 12. When 
 Cornelius and his friends became true believers, it is 
 said simply that " they received the word of God," 
 Acts, xi., 1. When Paul wrote to the Thessaloni- 
 ans, he said, " Ye became followers of us and of the 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS. 77 
 
 Lord, having received the vt^ord," 1 Thess., i., 6. 
 And as it is said of the Samaritans that they also 
 " received the word of God," we may infer that they 
 likewise became followers of the Lord. Seeing, then, 
 their earnestness, their reception of the Gospel, and 
 their joy, Philip could not doubt the sincerity of their 
 profession, and baptized them as disciples of Christ. 
 He judged rightly : the gift of the Holy Spirit, which 
 speedily followed, was the proof of their sincerity ; 
 when the apostles, Peter and John, " laid their hands 
 on them, they received the Holy Ghost" (17), and 
 thus " God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them 
 witness, giving them the Holy Ghost," Acts, xv., 8. 
 One of them, indeed, the sorcerer Simon, after 
 his baptism, proved that lie still retained bitter en- 
 mity to God and was the slave of sin (23) ; but, 
 like the rest, he was baptized as a penitent believer 
 (13). His offer of money to Peter, by which he 
 hoped to buy the power of communicating miracu- 
 lous gifts, proved that he was unconverted, but was 
 no proof that he had made no profession of repent- 
 ance and faith. Fropa Philip he had certainly 
 heard the great truths of the Gospel (12, 13). He 
 therefore believed, and professed to believe, the cor- 
 ruption of man, his ruin by the fall, his need of a 
 Savior, the atonement made by the Son of God, re- 
 generation by the Holy Spirit, the necessity of entire 
 obedience to the law of God, the resurrection, and 
 the future judgment. For some time after his bap- 
 tism he continued with Philip, and had, therefore, 
 many opportunities of hearing him. The miracles 
 which he witnessed excited his attention (13) ; and, 
 therefore, he must have listened to ali that Philip 
 
78 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 said. He could not have been ignorant of the Gos- 
 pel at the time when he ofiered the money to Peter ; 
 that ofter, therefore, is no proof that he was ignorant 
 at the time of his baptism ; and, as there is no other 
 proof of it, we are entitled to conclude that at his 
 baptism he made, like the rest, a credible profession 
 of repentance and faith ; and this was a sufficient 
 reason for his being admitted by Philip to baptism. 
 If it be further objected, that as Simon is said to 
 have believed, and yet he had no saving faith, belief 
 must mean something less than saving faith, and 
 that, therefore, the Samaritans may neither have ex- 
 perienced nor professed any more faith than that 
 which was experienced and professed by Simon. I 
 answer, that since it is said of the gift of the Spirit 
 to Cornelius and his friends, " God, which knoweth 
 the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy 
 Ghost" (Acts, XV., 8), the gift of the Spirit to the 
 Samaritans was likewise a testimony from God to 
 their sincerity. And whether it was so or not, we 
 are entitled to believe that they made a credible pro- 
 fession of saving faith. For, since salvation is so 
 distinctly and repeatedly attached in scripture to 
 faith, and the true disciples of Christ are constantly 
 termed believers whenever we meet with these terms 
 in the New Testament, we must understand them 
 to mean true and saving faith, unless the contrary 
 is expressed or may be clearly proved from the con- 
 text. It is certain that Philip placed before them 
 the great truths of the Gospel ; it is certain that 
 they believed them and received them ; they, there- 
 fore, made a profession of faith in Christ. That 
 profession was credible, because they made it when 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS. 79 
 
 the Church was imdergoing a furious persecution, 
 and the subsequent gift of the Holy Spirit to them 
 is an evidence that their profession was true. 
 
 Baptism of the Ethiopimi Eunuch.— -Acts, viii., 
 26-39. 
 
 This eunuch was a worshiper of God, who had 
 taken a long and expensive journey to attend a re- 
 ligious festival at Jerusalem (27). He was in pos- 
 session of the book of the Prophet Isaiah ; and, as he 
 traveled in his chariot, was reading the prediction of 
 our Savior contained in the fifty-third chapter of that 
 book (28, 32, 33). At this moment he was joined 
 by Philip, who was first directed by an angel to enter 
 the wilderness between Jerusalem and Gaza ; and, 
 secondly, was directed by the Spirit to approach the 
 chariot (29). Invited to sit beside him in the chariot, 
 Philip, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, expounded 
 to him the prophecy which he had been reading, and 
 " preached unto him Jesus" (30, 35) ; that is, he de- 
 clared to him the incarnation, the life, the miracles, 
 the doctrine, the death, the resurrection, the ascen- 
 sion, the reign, and the future advent of Jesus. In 
 substance, at least, he told him the words of Christ : 
 "God so loved the world that he gave his only-be- 
 gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
 not perish, but have everlasting life." That Philip 
 taught the eunuch all this, and much more, is cer- 
 tain, first, from the statement, that " he preached 
 unto him Jesus ;" and, second, from the desire which 
 Philip, as a man full of the Holy Ghost, felt to save 
 his soul. And when, on approaching a pool of wa- 
 ter, he said, " See, here is water. What doth hin- 
 
80 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 der me to be immersed ?" How could Philip hesi- 
 tate to comply with his request ? How could he 
 doubt that he was a real believer ? 
 
 1 . Philip had been sent to him by special revela- 
 tion (26, 29). Why was this, if God did not de- 
 sign to convert him by his grace — if, indeed, he was 
 not already converted ? 2. Philip found him read- 
 ing the word of God (28), a fact which alone beto- 
 kened great seriousness of mind. 3. Philip found 
 that he had just taken a long and expensive journey 
 from the heart of Ethiopia to worship God at Jeru- 
 salem, according to the law of God (27 ; Exod., 
 xxiii., 17), having renounced the idols of his coun- 
 try, which were sacrifices which no one would make 
 who was not actuated by strong religious feelings. 
 4. When Philip " preached to him Jesus," explain- 
 ing to him the way of salvation, he immediately de- 
 sired to be baptized as a disciple of Christ. Now, 
 either he had learned something about Jesus at Jeru- 
 salem or not : if not, then Philip must have explain- 
 ed the nature of baptism, for else he could not have 
 wished for it ; and in that case he deliberately con- 
 secrated himself to the Father, the Son, and the Spir- 
 it ; but if he had a previous knowledge of Christ and 
 of Christians, then he was aware of the fierce perse- 
 cution of Christians at Jerusalem, and desired bap- 
 tism when he knew that it would expose him to the 
 hatred of all his co-religionists. 5. When he was 
 baptized he manifested joy (39) : now baptism alone 
 could not occasion this ; it was, therefore, the joy 
 arising from a discovery of the way of salvation. 
 See Acts, ii., 46, 47; viii., 8; xiii., 52, &c., &c. 
 And this joy must have been as apparent before his 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS, QJ 
 
 baptism as after it. And what could cause this but 
 faith ? When PliiUp considered all these things, he 
 could not but conclude that he was a true believer, 
 and that God had sent him tp him for the express 
 purpose of bringing him to faith in Christ. In his 
 own country of Ethiopia, where there were no Chris- 
 tians, he could not obtain baptism ; and as an open 
 expression of faith before his servants would honor 
 Christ and strengthen his faith, Philip could not 
 hesitate to baptize him as a believer in Jesus. 
 
 Bcqjtism of Paul. — Acts, ix., 1—20 ; xx., 1—16. 
 
 When, upon being struck to the earth and blind- 
 ed by the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ on the road 
 to Damascus, Paul, "trembling and astonished, said, 
 Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" his self-will 
 was subdued, Acts, ix., 6. Notwithstanding that 
 our Lord graciously declared his purpose to make 
 him his missionary to the Gentiles (xxvi., 16—18), 
 he was so agitated that for three days he could nei- 
 ther eat nor drink (ix., 9). Unable, apparently, to 
 obtain a sense of pardon, but yet incapable of de- 
 spair, he continued during those days to pray (ix., 
 11). While he was so engaged, our Lord directed 
 Ananias, a disciple of Damascus, to visit him (10, 
 11), who, entering his room, said, "Brother Saul, 
 the Lord Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way 
 as thou camest, hath sent me that thou mightest 
 receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had 
 been scales. And he received sight forthwith" (17, 
 18). Ananias now continued, "The God of our 
 fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know 
 
 F 
 
82 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 his will, and see that Just One, and shouldst hear 
 the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his wit- 
 ness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. 
 And now why tarriest thou ? Arise, and be bap- 
 tized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name 
 of the Lord" (xxii., 14-16). "And he arose and 
 was baptized" (ix., 18); "and straightway he 
 preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the 
 Son of God" (ix., 20). It was then that Jesus 
 was revealed to his soul that he might preach in 
 his name, Gal., i., 16. His subjection to Christ 
 (6), his persevering prayer (1 1), his reception of the 
 Holy Ghost (17), his immediate renunciation of the 
 world, and his entrance on a ministry entailing pov- 
 erty, opposition, pain, and perhaps death, prove that 
 he was then converted. And Ananias had reason 
 to conclude this, for he had heard from Christ him- 
 self that Paul was "a chosen vessel" (ix., 15). He 
 had been sent by Jesus to communicate the Holy 
 Spirit to him ; he witnessed in him those humble 
 and earnest feelings which his continual prayer had 
 manifested ; and when he saw that his sight was 
 restored, and that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were 
 communicated to him (ix., 17, 18), he could not 
 hesitate to baptize him as a penitent believer. 
 
 It has been argued that Ananias could not con- 
 sider him to be a believer because he said, " Arise, 
 and wash away thy sins" (xxii., 16). But as con- 
 fession must follow faith, and yet is said to save 
 (Rom., X., 9, 10), so baptism may follow faith, and 
 yet be said to wash away sins. In both cases it is 
 the faith itself which justifies. In the one case con- 
 fession is spoken of as the expression of saving faith, 
 
APOStOLIC BAPTISMS. 83 
 
 in the other case baptism is spoken of as its expres- 
 sion. In the one case the apostle declares, virtual- 
 ly, that faith saves when it makes a man confess 
 Christ ; in the other, Ananias intimated that it 
 would save when it led to the particular mode of 
 confessing Christ, viz., baptism. For, as Mr. Poole 
 says, '' Where true faith is together with profession 
 of it by baptism, there is salvation promised." — 
 Poole on Mark, xvi., 16. 
 
 Baptism of Cornelius. — Acts, x., 1—48. 
 
 That Cornelius was a believer at the time of his 
 baptism is, I think, apparent from the narrative. 
 He was, it is said, EVGtbr\q aal (pobovfievog tov Qeov, 
 " a devout man, and one that feared God," and all 
 his household had the same character. Acts, x., 2. 
 By this term, evaetfiq^ devout, the piety of Ananias 
 of Damascus was expressed. Acts, xxii., 12. By 
 this term the children of God generally are desig- 
 nated by Peter, 2 Peter, ii., 9. One great end of 
 redemption is said by Paul to be to make men evae- 
 6elg, godly, Titus, ii., 12. Cornelius was, there- 
 ibre, a godly man. The expression " to fear God" 
 rneans to have supreme reverence and regard to 
 him, as we may judge from the follo-\ving passages : 
 "His mercy is on them that fear him throughout 
 all generations," Luke, i., 50, " Servants, obey in 
 all things your masters ... in singleness of heart, 
 fearing God," Col., iii., 22. " Let us cleanse our- 
 selves, perfecting holiness in the fear of God," 2 Cor., 
 vii., 1, &c. Cornelius, therefore, and his household, 
 who feared God, were the servants and children of 
 God, and were, theietbre, accepted by him. Acts, x., 
 
84 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 35. There is reason to think the same of his 
 "kinsmen and near friends" (24), who all met to 
 hear the word of God (33). Upon them all, after 
 that they had heard the Gospel preached unto them, 
 the Holy Ghost was poured out (44), all in foreign 
 languages magnified God (46). Then " God, which 
 knows the hearts, bare them witness, giving them 
 the Holy Ghost . . . purifying their hearts by faith," 
 Acts, XV., 8, 9. And when the Church at Jerusa- 
 lem, instructed by apostles, heard these facts, "they 
 glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the 
 Gentiles granted repentance unto life," Acts, xi., 
 18. This, it is clear from the narrative, the apos- 
 tle understood. They were penitent believers, the 
 apostle knew them to be so, and as such he baptized 
 them. 
 
 Baptism of Lydia and of her Household. — Acts, 
 xvi., 11-15. 
 
 Lydia and her household were baptized by Paul 
 as believers. 
 
 Lydia was a pious person at the time of her bap- 
 tism. For she was a worshiper of God (14) ; she 
 listened attentively to the preaching of Paul (14) ; 
 she did so because the Lord " opened her heart" to 
 receive the truth ; and at her baptism she made a 
 distinct profession of faith, asking Paul and his com- 
 panions to become her guests if they judged her to 
 be moTT], a believer (15). 
 
 And Paul had reason to think that she was a be- 
 liever. For when the Lord opened her heart to re- 
 ceive the Gospel in reality, her conversation would 
 soon show both her knowledge of it and her hearty 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS. 85 
 
 reception of it. Immediately after her baptism she 
 invited the evangelists to become her guests, if they 
 considered her faithful, that is, a true believer ; for 
 so the word Tnarrj means. Acts, xvi., 1 ; 2 Tim., 
 i., 5 ; Eph., i., 1 ; Col., i., 2, 7 ; iv., 7, 9 ; 1 Tim., 
 i., 12. And their acceptance of the invitation, made 
 upon that express condition, shows that they did 
 then consider her to be a believer. But, if so, they 
 must have considered her so before her baptism, since 
 that ceremony could not effect the change. It is 
 therefore apparent that she was baptized as a peni- 
 tent believer. 
 
 Of the members of her family nothing is said ; 
 but, from the practice of the apostles in other cases, 
 we may judge that they also had professed their 
 faith, and no less than their mistress were baptized 
 as believers ; as Cornelius " feared God with all his 
 house" (Acts, x., 2), as the nobleman at Capernaum 
 believed " and his whole house" (John, iv., 33), as 
 the jailer at Philippi " rejoiced, believing with all 
 his house" (Acts, xvi., 34), and as Crispus of Co- 
 rinth "believed in the Lord with all his house" 
 (Acts, xviii., 8), so it appears from the fact of their 
 baptism that Lydia believed with all her house ; 
 and, like all others, they were baptized on a profes- 
 sion of their faith. 
 
 Baptism of the Jailer of Philippi. — Acts, xvi., 
 22-34. 
 
 The jailer had treated Paul and Silas with un- 
 necessary harshness ; for he thrust them into the in- 
 ner prison, fastened them in the stocks, and there 
 left them to bear their pain and hunger unpitied. 
 
86 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 when he might have easily learned their innocence, 
 and when, without any violation of his duty, he 
 might, as he afterward did, have treated them kind- 
 ly, dressing their wounds and offering them food. 
 When, therefore, the earthquake, in conjunction with 
 their Christian conduct, convinced him that they 
 were the serv^ants of God to whom he had acted with 
 cruelty, he was afraid of the immediate vengeance 
 of God (29,30). But when they said to him, " Be- 
 lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
 saved," and then explained the Gospel more fully to 
 him, " He was transported with joy, rjyaXXtdoaro, be- 
 lieving in God" (3 1 , 34). The word used expresses 
 the joy of faith experienced by the Christians of Asia 
 Minor, to whom Peter, speaking of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, said, " In whom dyaXXiaade, ye greatly re- 
 joice." " In whom believing dyaXXidads, ye rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory," 1 Pet., i., 
 6, 8. No man could so rejoice in Christ without 
 faith ; and faith is said to have been the cause of 
 his joy : «' He rejoiced believing in God." There 
 seems to me no force in the objection that his joy 
 and his faith are named subsequently to his baptism, 
 because the water could effect no change in his 
 views. Without trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and without the assurance of the pardon of his sins, 
 how could immersion fill him with joy ? He was 
 immersed because he believed in Christ, and rejoiced 
 because he was thus allowed to profess his faith. 
 His open and instant confession of Christ might in- 
 crease his joy, but its only intelligible source is, that 
 he, as a guilty sinner, felt himself to be pardoned, 
 and that joy was the same before baptism as after. 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS. 87 
 
 It is apparent also that Paul thought him to be 
 a believer. His extreme terror was apparent in his 
 agitated looks, his frantic gestures, and his earnest 
 words, " Sirs, what must I do to be saved ?" (27—30). 
 Paul necessarily saw how eagerly he welcomed the 
 doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. The 
 immense change from terror to exultation effected by 
 faith was equally visible ; and when, in place of his 
 former cruelty, he now treated them with brotherly 
 kindness, how could the apostle, who was so much 
 accustomed to the sudden conversions effected by 
 divine grace, doubt that the Spirit of God had 
 changed his heart ? How could he refuse to bap- 
 tize him as a penitent believer ? 
 
 It is no less certain that his household believed 
 also ; for they likewise, excited by the earthquake 
 and by the other circumstances of that eventful 
 night, listened to the words of these wonderful pris- 
 oners (32) ; the change wrought in the head of the 
 family must have acted powerfully on their minds, 
 and the narrative expressly declares, TjyaXXidaaTO 
 navoiKL TTETiiorevKcbg rw Sew, "he exulted, having 
 believed in God with all his house" (34). These 
 words express the faith of the household, whether 
 we understand them to mean that he rejoiced to- 
 gether with all his house, or that he believed togeth- 
 er with them. For if he believed together with 
 them, their faith was like his ; and if he exulted to- 
 gether with them, then, like him, they possessed the 
 vehement joy of faith. ^ 
 
 * See Acts, ii., 46 ; Jude, 24. It makes little difference wheth- 
 er iravoiKl be construed with 7]ya2.?udaaTo, or with neniCTevKug ; 
 but it is generally construed with the latter. 
 
88 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 The Baptism of the Corinthicms. — Acts, xviii.. 8. 
 
 Of the formation of the Corhlthian Church We 
 read, " Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, 
 beheved in the Lord with all his house ; and many 
 of the Corinthians hearing, believed and were bap- 
 tized." Since our Lord has said, " He that believ- 
 eth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark, xvi., 16), 
 and these Corinthians "believed and were baptized," 
 they were therefore saved. There is no more reason 
 to give the lowest sense to the word " believed" in 
 this narrative than there is to give it to the same 
 word in Mark, xvi. ; and, therefore, there is no rea- 
 son to doubt that these persons were true believers 
 before baptism. 
 
 The Baptism of twelve Ephesia^is. — Acts, xix., 1— 7. 
 
 These Ephesians were also baptized as believers. 
 When Paul came to Ephesus, he found, it is said, 
 twelve "disciples." As behevers alone are called 
 disciples in the New Testament, and as the apostle 
 thought that they were believers in Christ (2), these 
 must have been men of a religious character ; and as 
 they were, in fact, disciples of John, from whom they 
 had received baptism many years before, it is evident 
 
 " The jailer is said to have believed in God with all his house, 
 I. c, with all his family to have accepted and approved the Chris- 
 tian doctrine. Gustos carceris, TcavocKt TZETTiarevKug t(j Qecj, di- 
 citur, i. e., cum tot^ sud familiS. accepisse et probasse doctrinam 
 Christianam." — Schleusner. "He exulted because with all his 
 house he had believed in God. Exultavit quod cum tota domo 
 credidisset Deo. "—Stephen. " On this account he rejoiced, that 
 not on himself alone, but on his whole family, such light had been 
 poured. Ideo gavisus est quod, non ipse tantum, sed tota ejus 
 familia tantaiuce perfusa esset." — Grotius. 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS. 89 
 
 that they had been baptized unto repentance for the 
 remission of sins (Mark, i., 4)^ that they had re- 
 pented unto Hfe (Matt., iii., 2, 6), and that after the 
 lapse of so many years they were Hving as pious per- 
 sons. Although they were looking for the immediate 
 advent of the Messiah (Matt., iii,, 2), and knew that 
 he would baptize his followers in the Holy Ghost 
 (Matt., iii., 11), yet, being far from Judea, they had 
 neither known the particulars of the life of Jesus, 
 nor had they heard of the gift of the Holy Ghost to 
 the churches in consequence of his exaltation. But 
 when Paul reminded them that Jolin had announced 
 a Savior to come after him (4), and then explained 
 to them the claims of Jesus (4), they were baptized 
 slg TO ovofia, <'unto the name of the Lord Jesus," and 
 immediately received the Holy Spirit (5, 6). Since 
 thus " God, who knoweth the hearts, bare them wit- 
 ness, giving them the Holy Ghost" (Acts, xv., 8), 
 we may infer not only that they were then believers 
 before that they were thus " sealed by the Spirit" 
 (Eph., i., 13), but also that Paul had good grounds 
 from their life, and from their conversation with 
 him, to judge them to be so, and, as such, baptized 
 them. 
 
 These being all the instances of baptism recorded 
 in the New Testament, it appears that all the per- 
 sons of whose baptism there is any inspi;red narrative 
 were persons who were professed believers in Christ. 
 There is no excepted case. 
 
 The evidence of this fact seems to me so clear 
 and precise, that no imaginations can be received in 
 opposition to it. Nevertheless, as these are much 
 insisted on, let us examine their amount and worth. 
 
90 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS 
 
 It has been said that these persons were generally 
 baptized at once ; many of them on the first day that 
 they heard the Gospel ; that no tests of character 
 were applied, no testimonials were asked, and no 
 delay suggested ; that ministers baptized without 
 any consent of churches ; and that they Avere there- 
 fore baptized, not as believers, but as catechumens. 
 I answer, that since the inspired word declares that 
 they were believers, all these objections can not dis- 
 prove it. 
 
 But the objections themselves seem to me weak. 
 In the circumstances in which these converts were 
 placed, sudden conversions were to be expected. To 
 the truth of the sudden conversion both of Zacclieus 
 and of the crucified thief our Lord bore testimony 
 (Luke, xix., 9 ; xxiii., 43) ; and of Paul's sudden 
 conversion to be a faithful apostle there can be no 
 doubt, Acts, ix., 20. Why, then, should not other 
 conversions be sudden ? The preachers were, in 
 most of the cases, inspired and fervent ; they had 
 made great sacrifices for the truth ; the miracles 
 which they wrought were impressive ; their doctrine 
 could not be doubted ; and if that doctrine was true, 
 men were bound to trust and serve Christ at once. 
 Under such circumstances, to change their views, 
 feelings, and habits at once, was sobriety ; to delay 
 the change, was infatuation. 
 
 If no testimonials of character were asked, and 
 no delay of baptism suggested, neither of these were 
 necessary. The converts embraced shame, perse- 
 cution, loss, and hardship, when they received the 
 Gospel : none but earnest men were then likely to 
 profess their reception of it ; and neither ministers 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS. 91 
 
 nor churches were authorized to demand any other 
 quaUfications in the converts than the external in- 
 dications of conversion — a hearty reception of the 
 doctrine of Christ, and a cheerful subjection to his 
 yoke. 
 
 If the converts were sometimes baptized without 
 the sanction of the churches, this was in every case 
 apparently when there were no churches which could 
 sanction them. In the case of the three thousand 
 at Jerusalem, nearly the whole Church apparently 
 were engaged in baptizing the converts. The Sa- 
 maritans, the eunuch, Cornelius, Lydia, the jailer, 
 the Corinthians, and the Ephesians, were baptized 
 when there was no Church in the place. The bap- 
 tized were themselves the first members of the 
 churches to which they afterward belonged. 
 
 Now, since all the persons baptized by the apostles 
 and their cotemporaries were, according to the only 
 records which we possess, believers, what right have 
 w^e to baptize any others ? The baptism of a be- 
 liever is a spontaneous profession of faith ; the bap- 
 tism of any other class is something essentially dif- 
 ferent ; and how can we innocently add to Christ's 
 institution something essentially different ? His com- 
 mission declares that believers are to be baptized ; 
 the books of the New Testament record the baptism 
 of none but believers ; where, then, is the precept 
 or the precedent for something totally distinct, the 
 baptism of catechumens or of infants ? If you bap- 
 tize these, baptize also heathens. Why do you re- 
 ject heathens from baptism but because you have 
 no precept or precedent to authorize their baptism ? 
 And since you are equally without both precept and 
 
92 BAPTISM TO NONi: BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 precedent for the baptism of infants, rescue them 
 also from the disadvantage of an unauthorized and 
 deceptive rite, which, by making them Christians 
 in name, may hinder them from being Christians in 
 reaHty. 
 
 VI. The Nature and Effects of Baptism, as 
 
 DECLARED IN THE NeW TeSTAMENT. 
 
 We have already seen proof that believers alone 
 ought to be baptized from the terms of the commis- 
 sion in Matt., xxviii., and from the fact that they 
 alone are declared to have been baptized by apostles 
 and their cotemporaries. We may see farther proof 
 of this truth from other statements of the New Testa- 
 ment respecting the nature and effects of baptism. 
 
 The passages which I wish to examine on this 
 subject are the following : 
 
 "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be 
 born dv(*)dev, from above, he can not see the kingdom 
 of God. . . .Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a 
 man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not 
 enter into the kingdom of God." — John, iii., 3, 5. 
 
 " Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in 
 the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, 
 and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." — 
 Acts, ii., 38. 
 
 "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, 
 calling upon the name of the Lord." — Acts, ii., 16. 
 " Know ye not, that so many of us as were bap- 
 tized unto Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? 
 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto 
 death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the 
 dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 93 
 
 should walk in newness of life. For if we have been 
 ovfjicpvToi,^ associated, connected in the likeness of 
 his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his res- 
 urrection : knowing this, that our old man is cruci- 
 fied with him that the body of sin might be destroy- 
 ed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." — 
 Rom., vi., 3—6. 
 
 " For ye are all the children of God by faith in 
 Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been 
 baptized unto Christ have put on Christ. ... In 
 whom, also, ye are circumcised with the circumcision 
 made without hands, in putting off the body of the 
 sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ : buried 
 with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with 
 him through the faith of the operation of God, who 
 hath raised him from the dead." — Gal., iii., 26, 27 ; 
 Col., ii., 11, 12. 
 
 " Not by works of righteousness which we have 
 done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the 
 washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
 Ghost." — Tit., iii., 5. 
 
 " The antitype to which, o) avTirvnov, baptism, 
 doth also now save us, not the putting away of the 
 filth of the flesh, but ovveidrjoeog dyaOrjg enepGjjrjua 
 elg Qeov, the petition unto God, or the seeking after 
 God, of a good conscience." — 1 Pet., iii., 21. 
 
 Any person attentively reading these passages 
 without a previous bias, would, I think, be at once 
 disposed to think that faith must precede baptism ; 
 
 * " 2vix<j)VTog, planted together, connected together." — Stuart. 
 From " 1,v/Li.(i)vo]uai, to be necessarily connected." — Liddell. 
 " 2v/t/«^yro{-, grown together into one, conjoined, united." — Robin- 
 
94 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 and this is made plainer by a closer examination of 
 their meaning. 
 
 John, iii., 3, 5. — " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 
 Except a oiian be born dv(j)dev,fro}ri above, he can 
 not see the kingdom of God. . . . Verily, verily, I 
 say unto thee, Except a man be born of ivater and 
 of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of 
 Godr 
 
 The word dvcddev, usually translated '' again," in 
 this place does not mean again, but <' from above." 
 See verse 31 ; xix., 11 ; James, i., 17 ; iii., 15, 17. 
 It has not the sense of " again" in the lexicons, nor 
 in the Septuagint, nor in the New Testament, if we 
 except, perhaps, one doubtful passage. Gal., iv., 9 ; 
 but it constantly means " from above." " To be 
 born from above" is the same thing as "to be born 
 of water and of the Spirit," in the 5th verse, both 
 describing the same new birth, because the 5th verse 
 is our Lord's explanation of the 3d verse, in answer 
 to the question of Nicodemus. Let us examine, then, 
 first, the nature of this new birth, and, secondly, its 
 necessity. 
 
 1 . The Nature of the Neiv Birth. — To be born 
 from above (verse 3); to be born of God (John, i., 
 13 ; 1 John, iii., 9), to become sons of God (John, 
 i., 12 ; Rom., viii,, 14), to be born of the Spirit 
 (John, iii., 6, 8), to be born of water and of the Spirit 
 (5), to be born again (1 Pet., i., 23), and to be re- 
 generate (Tit,, iii., 5), are all phrases which express 
 the same thing. For to be born from above must 
 be to be born of God, who is above ; to be born of 
 God is to be a son of God ; to be born of God is to 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 95 
 
 be born of the Spirit, who is God ; to be born of the 
 Spirit must be the same thing as to be born of wa- 
 ter and of the Spirit, since the Spirit does not ac- 
 comphsh two births from above; and this birth of 
 water and of the Spirit must be the new birth, or re- 
 generation, because this spiritual birth is a new birth, 
 and there is no other new birth which men experi- 
 ence. 
 
 This new birth is effected by God through his 
 word, James, i., 18 ; 1 Pet., i., 23. It is effected 
 through faith, John, i., 12 ; Gal., iii., 26 ; 1 John, 
 v., 1. The effects and proofs of it are love to God 
 and man, 1 John, iv,, 7 ; holy obedience, Rom.,.viii., 
 14 ; 1 John, ii., 29 ; iii., 9, 10 ; v., 18 ; and a filial 
 spirit, Rom., viii., 15, 16. Those, therefore, who, 
 through the influence of the Scriptures, believe in 
 Christ, love God and man, obey the commands of 
 God, and feel toward God as children toward a par- 
 ent, are born of the Spirit. 
 
 But our Lord here says that water has some con- 
 nection with this change. Each is to be born of 
 water and of the Spirit. Now, since the Jews bap- 
 tized their proselytes, and called the. baptized per- 
 sons new-born, of which Nicodemus was aware, since 
 John had baptized many disciples, and the disciples 
 of Jesus themselves also baptized converts in water. 
 By water in this place, there is reason to think that 
 Jesus meant, not the influence of the Spirit, but the 
 water of baptism. There is no other place in Scrip- 
 ture in which regeneration by the Spirit is called a 
 birth by water ; and this passage is unlike Matt., 
 iii., 11, where the baptism in the Spirit is termed 
 " a baptism in fire," because here the word " water" 
 
96 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 is not put after the word " Spirit," as though to ex- 
 plain the spiritual baptism, but before it, as though 
 to express something distinct, though associated. 
 Calvin, Bullinger, Grotius, Poole, Lampe, and Gill, 
 deny the reference of the passage to baptism ; Beza, 
 Baxter, Benson, Scott, Barnes, Bengel, and others, 
 maintain that reference ; and they are probably 
 right. But if our Lord here referred to baptism, 
 then he declared that a man is born from above by 
 the Spirit and by baptism. How is this to be un- 
 derstood ? Does the Spirit effect the regeneration 
 of a person by the water of baptism ? Many think 
 so. " In baptism," says a respectable writer of our 
 day, " two very difierent causes are combined — the 
 one, God himself; the other, a creature which he 
 has thought fit to hallow for this end. . . . This re- 
 generation is the being born of water and of the 
 Spirit, or by God's Spirit again moving on the face 
 of the waters, and sanctifying them for our cleansing, 
 and cleansing us thereby." — Tract 67, p. 13, 19. 
 But the idea is wholly contrary to Scripture, which 
 declares that men are regenerated by the word of 
 God (James, i., 18 ; 1 Pet., i., 23 ; John, i., 12, 13 ; 
 Gal., iii., 26; Eph., v., 26) ; and as distinctly re- 
 iiited by facts, since their ungodly lives prove num- 
 bers of baptized persons to remain unregenerate. 
 The expression can not mean that men must be 
 made catechumens by baptism, and afterward be 
 born of the Spirit, because these two things are so 
 distinct and separate that they can not both be call- 
 ed one new birth, one birth from above. But as 
 regeneration takes place when a man receives faith 
 from God, and baptism is the expression of faith 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 97 
 
 which necessarily follows, a person who does not 
 possess faith has no faith and is not regenerate ; and 
 baptism, as the outward sign of faith or regenera- 
 tion, may thus be rightly connected with it in lan- 
 guage. The work of the Spirit makes a man a new 
 creature, and baptism is the manifestation of the 
 change. The Spirit alone renews the mind, the 
 will, and the afiections, changing pride into humili- 
 ty, self-righteousness into contrition, unbelief into 
 faith, enmity into love, worldliness into spirituality 
 of mind, slavery to sin into the love of duty and the 
 habit of obedience, Eph., ii., 4, 5, 10. Profession 
 alone is wanting to complete the change. And 
 when a person who has received spiritual life mani- 
 fests it by confessing Christ before men by immersion, 
 then he is born of water and of the Spirit — ^his new 
 birth is complete. He has received new life, and 
 his new life is manifested to the world. 
 
 2. The NecessiUj of the New Birth. — All en- 
 lightened persons own the necessity of a great moral 
 change to be effected by the Spirit of God ; but 
 why is baptism a necessary adjunct ? The moral 
 change is not effected by baptism, but before it, as 
 we know from Scripture and from indubitable facts ; 
 but why then is baptism so necessary that Jesus 
 could say, " Except a man be born of water and of 
 the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of 
 God ?" The answer is obvious. Baptism is the 
 profession of faith, the public confession of Christ, 
 without which confession there is no true faith and 
 no salvation. So Jesus has himself pronounced, 
 Matt., X., 32, 33 ; see also Uom., x., 8-10 ; Rev., 
 xxi., 8. And as the confession of Christ is necessa- 
 
 G 
 
98 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 ry to salvation, so is baptism to those who know 
 that this is the appointed method of confessing him. 
 
 "It is not another kind of faith, but that same 
 which in the sincere is saving which is required to 
 be professed in baptism," — Baxter. 
 
 " It is most certain that a profession of faith and 
 repentance was ordinarily required before the baptism 
 of adult persons. . . . Where true faith is together 
 with the profession of it by baptism, there is salva- 
 tion promised, Mark, xvi., 16." — Poole, Matt., iii., 
 6 ; Acts, xxii., 16. 
 
 *' The necessity of regeneration in the first place, 
 and then of baptism, is here confirmed." — Bengel. 
 
 " Unless a man has a new nature given him by 
 the Spirit, which is being born of the Spirit, and 
 publicly receive the Christian religion when ofiered 
 to him (Matt., x., 33), which is being born of water, 
 he can not be a subject of God's kingdom here, nor 
 have a share in his glory hereafter. ... As the wash- 
 ing of the body with water in baptism fitly repre- 
 sents the purification of the soul, this ceremony is 
 very properly made the rite by which we publicly 
 take upon ourselves the profession of the Christian 
 religion ; wherefore the receiving of this rite is nec- 
 essary in all cases where it may be had ; the con- 
 fessing of Christ being often as necessary as believ- 
 ing in him." — Benson. 
 
 " Baptism in the ordinary course of things is req- 
 uisite to the outward profession of Christianity." — 
 Scott. 
 
 " Jesus meant undoubtedly to be understood as 
 affirming that this was to be the regular and uni- 
 form way of entering into his Church, that this was 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 99 
 
 the appropriate mode of making a profession of relig- 
 ion. ... It is the duty of every one not only to love 
 the Savior, but to make an acknowledgment of that 
 love by being baptized and devoted to his service. . . . 
 He can not enter into the true Church here or in the 
 world to come except in connection with a change 
 of heart, and by the proper expression of that change 
 in the, ordinances appointed by the Sayior." — Barnes. 
 
 Acts, ii., 38. — " Repent, and he baptized, every 
 one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the 
 reniission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost.'' 
 
 Repentance includes the confession of our sins, sor- 
 row for them, and turning away from them. 
 
 " Repentance implies sorrow for sin as committed 
 against God with a purpose to forsake it. It is not 
 merely a fear of the consequences, nor of the wrath 
 of God in hell ; it is such a view of sin, as evil in 
 itself, as to lead the mind to hate it and forsake it." 
 — Barnes. It is connected with conversion. Acts, 
 iii., 19 ; xxvi., 20. It leads to faith, Mark, i., 15 ; 
 John, xvi., 9 ; Acts, xx., 21 ; 2 Tim., ii., 25. It 
 secures forgiveness, Matt., v., 3 ; Luke, iii., 3 ; xv., 
 7, 17-20; xviii., 13, 14 ; xxiv., 47; Acts, v., 31 ; 
 xi., 18 ; 2 Cor., vii., 10 ; 1 John, i., 9. Those who 
 repent of ungodliness, become godly ; those who re- 
 pent of unbelief, believe ; those who repent of sin, 
 obey ; and, therefore, the repentant are forgiven. =^ 
 
 ** The Jews were called by Peter to repent first, 
 
 * Repent. " Meravoz/aare, [xeTavoiu, to change one's opinion, 
 to repent ; fieTavota, a change of mind on reflection, repentance." 
 —Liddell. 
 
100 BAPTIS3I TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 and then to be baptized. His language was, < Firm- 
 ly believe the doctrine of Christ, and submit to his 
 grace and government ; and make an open, solemn 
 profession of this, and come under an engagement to 
 abide by it by submitting to the ordinance of bap- 
 tism.' " — Henry. 
 
 " The direction which Christ gave his apostles 
 was that they should baptize all who believed. Matt., 
 xxviii., 19; Mark, xvi., 16. The Jews had not 
 been baptized, and a baptism now would be a pro- 
 fession of the religion of Christ, or a declaration 
 made before the world that they embraced Jesus as 
 their Messiah. It was equivalent to saying that 
 they should publicly and professedly embrace Jesus 
 Christ as their Savior. The Gospel requires such a 
 conviction, and no one is at liberty to withhold it. 
 And a similar declaration is to be made to all who 
 are inquiring the way to life. They are to exercise 
 repentance, and then, without any unnecessary de- 
 lay, to evince it in the ordinances of the Gospel. 
 If men are unwilling to profess religion, they have 
 none ; if they will not in the proper way show that 
 they are truly attached to Christ, it is proof that they 
 have no such attachment. . . . He who comes to be 
 baptized comes with a professed conviction that he 
 is a sinner, that there is no other way of mercy but 
 in ,the Gospel, and with a professed willingness to 
 comply with the terms of salvation, and receive it as 
 it is offered through Jesus Christ." — Barnes. 
 
 Such repentance, then, as implies faith and secures 
 pardon is to precede baptism, and therefore believers 
 alone ought to be baptized, 
 
 II. The Jews were here exhorted to repent and 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 101 
 
 to be baptized for the remission of sins. They were 
 not to expect the remission of their sins through bap- 
 tism without previous repentance, nor through re- 
 pentance without baptism, but through repentance 
 and baptism. If baptism regenerates the person, 
 then how could a previous repentance be necessary ? 
 If baptism is to be administered to all serious appli- 
 cants, then why were these Jews required first to 
 repent ? And why, in this case, is remission of sins 
 so connected with baptism ? We do not read in the 
 word of God, Repent and be just, Repent and give 
 alms for the remission of sins, but only, " Repent 
 and believe ;" " Repent, and be converted, that your 
 sins may be blotted out," Mark, i., 5 ; Acts, iii., 19. 
 But if baptism be simply a profession of repentance 
 and faith, then the expression, " Repent, and be 
 baptized for the remission of sins," is equivalent to 
 " Repent and believe for the remission of sins." Re- 
 mission of sins attends baptism simply because it at- 
 tends faith. The baptism of the three thousand was 
 an act of saving faith in them, an act which was 
 necessaiy to salvation (Matt., x., 32 ; Rom., x., 9, 
 10), and which secured it. "It is not enough to 
 believe in Christ, but we must also profess our Chris- 
 tianity, which it is the will of Christ that we should 
 do by baptism. He who does these things is assured 
 of the remission of his sins."=* Since, then, baptism 
 is thus necessary to remission of sins, and is so closely 
 connected with it as no mere acts of obedience ever 
 
 * " Non satis est Christo credere, sed opdrtet et Christianis- 
 mum profiteri (Rom., x., 10), quod Christus per baptismum fieri 
 voluit. Qui haec proestat certus fit de remissione peccatorum." — 
 Grotius. 
 
102 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 are, baptism must be a profession of faith, and none 
 but believers ought to be baptized. 
 
 III. Repentance and baptism are declared in the 
 text to secure the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy- 
 Spirit alone gives repentance and faith (John, i., 12, 
 13; vi., 44; Acts, ii., 47; xviii., 27; 1 Cor., iii., 
 5 ; xii., 3 ; Gal., v., 22 ; Eph., ii., 4, 5, 8 ; James, 
 i., 18); and as baptism ought to follow repentance, 
 baptism ought to follow the gift of the Holy Spirit : 
 but here larger communications of grace were intend- 
 ed, such as were promised by Jesus to his apostles 
 before his death (John, xiv., 16 ; xvi., 7), and to all 
 believers, John, vii., 38, 39. These were not mi- 
 raculous gifts alone, but the Spirit himself, with all 
 his saving influences (1 Cor., vi., 19; Rom., viii., 
 9), for it was the gift promised to all the elect in all 
 the world, Acts, ii., 39; Joel, ii., 28. And multi- 
 tudes of these have never received miraculous gifts. 
 This gift of the Spirit enlightens (2 Cor., iii., 17), 
 sanctifies (Rom., v., 5 ; viii., 1), is the seal of a be- 
 liever's adoption (Eph., i., 13 ; 1 John, iv., 13 ; Acts, 
 XV., 8 ; Eph., iv., 30 ; 2 Cor., i., 22), and the earn- 
 est of his celestial inheritance, Eph., i., 14; 2 Cor., 
 v., 5. It was promised by the Almighty to his 
 Church through the prophets (Isa., lix., 21 ; Ezek., 
 xxxvi., 27) ; and it is limited to believers, John, xiv., 
 17; Acts, v., 32; Rom., viii., 9 ; Gal., iii., 2 ; Eph., 
 i., 13. This was expressed by the Apostle Peter, 
 who limited the promise to " the called" (Acts, ii., 
 39); for those called are not those invited by the 
 Gospel, but the elect of God, who are called by his 
 grace, Rom., i., 6, 7 ; viii., 30; lCor,,i.,24; Eph., 
 i., 13; Gal., iii., 2; 2 Pet., i., 10; Jude, 1. Yet, 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 103 
 
 while this gift is limited to believers, it is given to all 
 who are rightly baptized ; for the apostle distinctly- 
 said that they all should receive it if they repented 
 and were baptized, Acts, ii., 38. And the baptized 
 did generally, in the apostolic era of the Church, re- 
 ceive it (Acts, viii., 17 ; xix., 6 ; 1 Cor., xii., 7, 11 ; 
 xiv., 2G; Gal., iii., 2, 5; Eph., i., 13; Heb,, vi., 
 4—9); and it was God's testimony to them (Acts, 
 XV., 8), and proved their repentance to life, Acts, xi., 
 18. But as the gift of the Holy Spirit is limited to 
 believers, and yet generally followed baptism in the 
 time of the apostles, it follows that none except pro- 
 fessed believers, and few except real believers, were 
 then baptized. On the whole, this text declares that 
 believers alono ought to be baptized : 1 . Because it 
 demands a change of heart and life before baptism ; 
 2. Because it connects baptism with the remission 
 of sins ; 3. Because it declares that repentance and 
 baptism secure the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Acts, xxii., 16. — '■'■And now why tarriest thou J 
 Arise, and be bajJtized, and icash aicay thy sins, 
 calling on the name of tlie Lord.'' 
 
 Paul was at this time deeply convinced of sin ; 
 his pride and self-will completely subdued (Acts, ix., 
 6), he continually cried to God for mercy (Acts, ix., 
 11); but he now felt that the law sentenced him to 
 death (Rom., vii., 9, 10), and was so agitated that 
 for three days he could neither eat nor drink. Acts, 
 ix., 9. To him, thus oppressed with guilt, Ananias, 
 who was sent by Jesus, used the vi'ords of the text, 
 in which he exhorted him to do two things at once, 
 to call on the name of Jesus and to be baptized, upon 
 
104 15APTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS, 
 
 which his guilt would be washed away. 1. By the 
 Lord, Ananias meant Jesus. See verses 10, 19, 21 ; 
 ix., 6, 10, 11, 15, 17; Rom., xiv., 6-9, &c. To 
 call on the name of the Lord is to pray to him as 
 God, Gen., iv., 26; 1 Kings, xviii., 24; 2 Kings, 
 v., 1 1 ; Psalm cxvi., 1 7 ; Acts, vii., 59. It is there- 
 fore to come to him in faith ; and it is connected with 
 salvation, Joel, ii., 32 ; Rom., x., 12, 13 ; John, vi., 
 39; Matt., xi., 28. All who truly call upon him 
 are his disciples. Acts, ix., 14, 21 ; 1 Cor., i., 2 ; 2 
 Tim., ii., 22. And when Ananias exhorted Paul to 
 call upon the name of Jesus, he exhorted him to ex- 
 ercise faith in him. 2. He exhorted him to be bap- 
 tized, in presence doubtless of the household, as a 
 public profession of his faith ; upon which two things, 
 the exercise of faith and the profession of it by bap- 
 tism, his sins would be washed away. " Baptism ad- 
 ministered to real penitents was intended to be both 
 a mean and a seal of pardon ; nor did God ordinari- 
 ly, in the primitive Church, bestow this on any person 
 till he submitted to baptism." — Benson. " The re- 
 mission of sins is promised to faith, and to the profes- 
 sion of faith by baptism, conjoined, Mark, xvi., 1 6." — 
 Grotius. "As washing causeth the spots to disap- 
 pear, so does pardoning mercy, or remission of sins, 
 which accompanieth baptism in the due receiver. 
 Matt., iii., 11; 1 Pet., iii., 21, 22. Where true 
 faith is, together with the profession of it by baptism, 
 there is salvation promised." — Poole. This truth 
 is expressed alike by this text, by Mark, xvi., 16, by 
 Acts, ii., 38, and by John, iii., 5, for all declare that 
 men are saved by faith manifested in the confession 
 of Christ, and can not be saved without it. And it 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 105 
 
 follows equally from each of them that none but be- 
 lievers can properly be baptized. 
 
 Rom., vi., 3—6. — " Know ye not, that so many 
 of us as tvere bajJtized unto Jesus Christ %vere ha'p- 
 tized i7ito his death? Therefore ice are buried 
 ivith him by baptism into death : that like as 
 Christ ivas raised up from the dead by the glory 
 of the Father, even so %ve also shoidd lualk in neiv- 
 ness of life. For if ive have been planted together 
 in the likeness of his death, loe shall be also in the 
 likeness of his resurrection : knoivi7ig this, tliat our 
 old man is crucified ivith him, that the body of sin 
 might be destroyed, that henceforth ive should not 
 serve sin'' 
 
 " Know ye not that when men are baptized, they 
 are by vow, covenant, and profession listed into the 
 belief of a crucified Savior, who died for sin to save 
 us from it ; and do profess that repentance by which 
 we renounce it, as dead to it for the time to come ? 
 Therefore in our baptism we are dipped under the 
 water, as signifying our covenant profession ; that 
 as he was buried for sin, we are dead and buried to 
 sin ; that as the glorious power of God raised him 
 from the dead, so we should rise up to live to him 
 in newness and holiness of life." — Baxter. 
 
 "■ All who had been baptized unto the name and 
 religion of Jesus had received the sign and made the 
 profession of communion with him, and conformity 
 to him in his death, that in virtue of his dying for 
 their sins, they should die to all sin. This profes- 
 sion was equivalent to being buried with Christ, as 
 dead with him. The baptism of a converted Jev/ 
 
10(> BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 or Gentile was a professed manifestation of his death 
 to sin, and it was a professed introduction to his 
 walking in newness of life." — Scott. 
 
 " We, by being baptized into his death, are con- 
 ceived to have made a similar translation ; in the 
 act of descending under the water of baptism to 
 have resigned an old life, and in the act of ascending 
 to emerge into a second, or new life." — Clialmers. 
 
 " The act of baptism denotes dedication to the 
 service of him in whose name we are baptized. One 
 of its designs is to dedicate or consecrate us to the 
 service of Christ. Thus (1 Cor., x., 2) the Israel- 
 ites are said to have been baptized unto Moses, i. e., 
 they became consecrated, or dedicated, or bound to 
 him as their leader and law-giver. In the place 
 before us, the argument of the apostle is evidently 
 drawn from the supposition that we have been sol- 
 emnly consecrated by baptism to the service of 
 Christ. By the solemn profession made at our bap- 
 tism we had become dead to sin, as Christ was dead 
 to the living world around him when "he was buried ; 
 as he rose from death, so we, being made dead to 
 sin and the world by that religion whose profession 
 is expressed by baptism, should rise to a new life, a 
 life of holiness." — Barnes. 
 
 "To be baptized unto Christ {in Christum), is 
 beyond doubt to be baptized unto this, that each 
 should profess his communion with Christ ; that 
 each by that baptism, as by a sign and testimony, 
 should avow that he had believed in Christ.*' — Vi- 
 tringa, Obs. Sac, iii., 22, 822. 
 
 " The sense is ... as many of us as have been 
 devoted to Christ by baptism." — Stuart. 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 107 
 
 '' As. the mean, by which a union takes place with 
 Christ is faith, and the mean of professing that faith, 
 of sealing our union with Christ, is baptism, Paul 
 employs the expression, 'to be bcq^tized unto Christ' 
 as equivalent to this, ' to be united to Christ.' To 
 be baptized unto Christ in the style of Paul does 
 not designate a simple external profession of the re- 
 ligion of the Gospel, but the act of heart by which 
 one accepts that religion, an act of which submission 
 to the rite of baptism was the public and ordained 
 expression. In all this passage, as in Gal., iii., 27, 
 baptism is taken for the acceptance of Christ, an act 
 of which that ceremony was the prescribed profes- 
 sion." — Hodge, French Translation. 
 
 From this passage it is plain that believers alone 
 ought to be baptized : 1 . Because the baptized are 
 said to be consecrated to Christ by baptism, which 
 is true of none but believers. 2. Because the bap- 
 tized die to sin and rise to a new life, which none 
 do but true believers. As tlie baptized are said to 
 die and to rise again, the passage can not mean that 
 baptism is merely emblematic of what they ought to 
 do. Its expressing what they ought to do would 
 not prove that they did it. Either, then, the bap- 
 tized persons really died and rose again in a spiritual 
 sense in baptism, and then they were real believers, 
 or else they died and rose again professedly, and 
 then they were professed believers. Either sense 
 proves that, according to this text, none but true 
 believers ought to offer themselves for baptism, and 
 none but those who make a credible profession of 
 faith ought to be received to baptism. 
 
108 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 Gal., iii., 26, 27. — " Ye are. all the children of 
 God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of 
 you as have been baptized unto Christ have put 
 on Christ'' 
 
 " To put on Clmst" is to be clothed, as it were, 
 ill Christ, to have Christ alone seen in us, and it 
 includes two things : 1 . To imitate the example of 
 Christ, Rom., xiii., 14; Eph., iv., 24; vi., 11 ; 
 Col., iii., 10, 12; 1 Pet., v., 5. 2. To trust in 
 the righteousness of Christ, which is to be, as it 
 were, clothed in his righteousness, to receive the 
 wedding garment (Matt., xxii., 11), the white robes 
 of the redeemed, Rev., vii., 9, 14. It is to receive 
 Christ as our righteousness (1 Cor., i., 30), and to 
 <' be made the righteousness of God in him," 2 Cor., 
 v., 21. "To put on Christ may be understood 
 legally and evangelically. Legally : Rom., xiii. : 
 ' Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,' i. e., imitate the 
 example and the virtues of Christ. But to put on 
 Christ evangelically is not a matter of imitation, but 
 of a new birth and creation. To put on Christ 
 evangelically is not to put on the law and works, 
 but an inestimable gift, namely, the remission of 
 sins, righteousness, peace, consolation, joy in the 
 Holy Spirit, salvation, life, and Christ himself" — 
 Luther. 
 
 *' He uses the similitude of a robe when he says 
 that the Galatians had put on Christ ; but he means 
 that they were so grafted into Christ, that before 
 God they bore the name and person of Christ, and 
 were more reckoned in him than in themselves." — 
 Calvin. 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 109 
 
 " God now looking on them, there appears noth- 
 ing but Christ. They are, as it were, covered all 
 over with him, as a man is with the clothes that 
 he has put on." — Locke. 
 
 All those who have been rightly baptized have 
 thus put on Christ. <' The old man is to be put off 
 with his deeds (Eph., iv. ; Col., iii.), that, being the 
 sons of Adam, we may become the sons of Grod. 
 This is not done by a change of dress, by any law 
 or works, but by the new birth, and the renovation 
 which takes place in baptism. In baptism there is 
 not given a legal clothing of righteousness or of our 
 works, but Christ becomes our clothing." — Luther. 
 
 " When Paul addresses believers who rightly use 
 the signs, he joins them with the truth which they 
 represent. Not, therefore, without reason, when he 
 addresses believers, does he say, that they in baptism 
 had put on Christ." — Calvin. 
 
 " All of you that are sincere believers are taken 
 into the family of God as his adopted children by 
 Christ, whom you believe in. For as many of you 
 as have sincerely consented to the baptismal cove- 
 nant, and so been baptized into the faith of Christ, 
 have thereby even put him on as your garment, and 
 wholly given up yourselves to him, and so, as his 
 members, are united to him. All that are baptized 
 have professed this, which the sincere perform." — 
 Baxter. 
 
 *' For so many of you as have been baptized unto 
 Christ, and so have taken upon you the solemn pro- 
 fession of his religion, may then be said to have put 
 on Christ, to be clothed with his character, and cov- 
 ered with his righteousness." — Doddridge. 
 
110 BAPTISM TU NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 " As many of you as have been baptized into 
 Christ, in consequence of your believing in him with 
 your heart unto righteousness, and have thereby test- 
 ified and professed your faith in liim, have put on 
 Christ, have received him as your righteousness and 
 sanctification. " — Benson. 
 
 Thus, according to St. Paul, all baptized persons 
 have put on Christ, i. c, are justified through him. 
 But sinners are justified by faith alone (Rom., iii., 
 20—28) ; and the righteousness of Christ is put on 
 none but believers and saints, Rom., iii,, 22 ; ix., 
 30 ; Rev., xi-x., 8. Since, then, all persons right- 
 ly baptized are justified, and yet none but believers 
 can be justified, it folloM^s that all persons rightly 
 baptized must be believers ; in other words, that be- 
 lievers alone ought to be baptized. 
 
 The same truth appears from a comparison of 
 the 27th verse with the 26th. " Indeed, the con- 
 nection of the 27th verse with that which precedes, 
 shows that the faith in Christ which was publicly 
 professed in baptism, and not the mere outward ad- 
 ministration (whether the baptized person had faith 
 or not) was specially intended." — Scott. 
 
 The Galatians were the children of God by faith 
 (26), because all baptized persons have put on Christ, 
 i. e., are justified and adopted (27). If we assume 
 that baptism was administered indiscriminately to 
 all applicants, and was no profession of faith, then 
 the argument would be this : " You are the children 
 of God by faith ; because baptized persons put on 
 Christ, and those who put on Christ are his chil- 
 dren, therefore baptized persons without faith are his 
 children : you are therefore his children by faith, 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 'Ill 
 
 because you are his children ivithout faith,'" which 
 is absurd. But if we assume that baptism is an act 
 of faith, then the argument is sound : " Ye are the 
 children of God by faith ; because all who are bap- 
 tized in faith put on Christ, and those who put on 
 Christ are children of God : as, then, you have been 
 baptized by faith, you have put on Christ by faith, 
 and have become the children of God by faith." 
 Hence baptism is an act of faith according to this 
 text ; and believers alone ought, therefore, to be 
 baptized. 
 
 Col,, ii., 11, 12. — '■' hi wliom aho ye arc circum- 
 clsed ivith the circimicision made tvithout hand?, in 
 initting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the 
 circumcision of Christ : buried ivith him in bap- 
 tism, icherehi also ye are risen with him through 
 the faith of the operatio7i of God who hath raised 
 him fro^n the dead'' 
 
 As persons, rightly baptized, are buried with 
 Christ to sin by a faith which God has wrought in 
 them, and are risen with Christ to a new life by the 
 same faith, it is plain that no persons but believers 
 ought to be candidates for baptism, because no oth- 
 ers so die and rise again by faith ; and no persons 
 but those who make a credible profession of such 
 faith ought to be received to baptism. 
 
 Titus, iii., 5. — " Not by u'orks of righteousness 
 ivhich ive have dmie, but according to his mercy he 
 saved us, by the ivashing of regeneratio7i and re- 
 newing of the Holy Ghosts 
 
 As " the renewing of the Holy Ghost" means the 
 
112 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 renewing by him, so *' the washing of regeneration'* 
 might mean the washing by regeneration. Had 
 this been his meaning, he would have used these 
 terms with an allusion to baptism. Why else em- 
 ploy the periphrasis, when the single word *' regen- 
 eration" would have expressed his meaning better ? 
 The expression, <' God saves us by regeneration," 
 would have been fully as forcible as the expression, 
 " God saves us by the washing of regeneration." 
 He evidently used this unusual expression with ref- 
 erence to the baptism of converts, and thus alludes 
 to baptism as the sign of regeneration. 
 
 But there is reason to think that by <' the wash- 
 ing of regeneration" the apostle means not the re- 
 generation which washes, but the washing which is 
 connected with regeneration. It is so understood by 
 Calvin, Beza, Grotius, Whitby, Macknight, Bengel, 
 Bloomfield, Slade, and others. The genitive is often 
 used thus by Paul and other New Testament writers 
 to express the efiect wrought by any person or thing. 
 Thus we read of the God of grace, of hope, of love 
 and peace (1 Pet., v., 10 ; Rom., xv., 13 ; 2 Cor., 
 xiii., 11), because God gives grace, hope, love, and 
 peace. " The spirit of divination" (Acts, xvi., 16) 
 means the spirit enabling to divine. " The spirit of 
 wisdom" (Eph., i., 17) means the spirit which makes 
 wise. " The blood of sprinkling" (Heb., xii., 24) is 
 the blood which sprinkles. <' The Gospel of peace" 
 (Rom., X., 15 ; Eph., vi., 15) is the Gospel which 
 gives peace. " The word of reconciliation" (2 Cor., 
 v., 18) is the word which reconciles. " The Gos- 
 pel of salvation" (Eph., i., 13) is the Gospel which 
 saves. " The baptism of repentance" (Luke, iii., 3) 
 
THE NATURE AND EITFECTS OF BAPTISM. 113 
 
 is the baptism which was the sign of repentance ; 
 and so " the washing of regeneration" is the wash- 
 ing which is the sign of regeneration. " Baptism," 
 says Calvin, " is suitably and truly called ' the bath 
 of regeneration.' Here Paul addresses believers, in 
 whom, because baptism is always efficacious, it is 
 properly joined with its true meaning and eftect." 
 The Spirit effects a moral change, and baptism is 
 the sign of it. The Spirit imparts new life, and 
 baptism manifests it ; and both complete the new 
 birth. As a child first lives and then comes into 
 the world, and thus is born, his entrance into the 
 world not giving life, but manifesting it, so the child 
 of God receives fife and then is baptized, and thus is 
 new born, his baptism not giving spiritual life, but 
 manifesting it ; and therefore baptism is the wash- 
 ing of regeneration, or . the washing which is the 
 manifestation and completion of regeneration. 
 
 By these two things, the washing and the renew- 
 ing, the spiritual renovation and the baptism which 
 manifests it, God saves his people. All the passages 
 respecting baptism are exactly in harmony in this 
 matter. According to Matt., xxviii., a man must 
 become a disciple, and then be baptized. Mark, xvi., 
 declares, that he who believes and is baptized shall 
 be saved. John, iii., 5, declares, that no one can 
 enter the kingdom of heaven, that is, be saved, un- 
 less he is new born by the Holy Spirit and by bap- 
 tism. Acts, ii., declares, that those who repent and 
 are baptized receive the remission of their sins with 
 the gift of the Spirit, and are thus saved. Acts, xxii., 
 declares, that if a man calls on the Lord Jesus for 
 salvation, or comes to him in faith, and is baptized, 
 
 II 
 
114 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 his sins are washed away, and he is therefore saved. 
 Rom., vi., and Col., ii., declare, that when a man is 
 baptized he dies to sin, and rises to a new life by 
 faith, and is therefore saved. Gal., iii,, declares, that 
 all who are baptized. put on Christ, become the chil- 
 dren of God, and are therefore saved ; and thus the 
 text under consideration declares that believers are 
 saved by the renewing of the Spirit and by baptism. 
 But if baptism be the sign of regeneration, an unre- 
 generate person ought not to be baptized. If the 
 rite is a public manifestation of spiritual life, it 
 should be withheld from those who afford no tokens 
 of that life. If baptism is the washing of regenera- 
 tion, it ought not ta be administered to the unregen- 
 erate. To suppose that "God's Spirit again moves 
 on the face of the waters, and sanctifies them for our 
 cleansing, and cleanses us thereby" (Tract 67), is 
 wholly at variance with the word of God (John, i,, 
 12, 13 ; Gal., iii., 26 ; James, i., 18 ; 1 Pet., i., 23), 
 is contrary to facts, and grossly superstitious ; and 
 since the water can not give spiritual life, and yet 
 manifests it, it must be preceded by it. Baptism 
 can not be the baptism of regeneration except with 
 respect to those who are previously regenerate ; and 
 as Christian baptism is the baptism of regeneration, 
 according to the text, regenerate believers alone 
 ought to be baptized. 
 
 1 Pet., iii., 20, 21. — "-The long-suffering of 
 God waited in the (^ays of Noah, while the ark 
 was prepa7-ing, ivherein feiv, that is, eight souls, 
 ivere brought safely through the tvater.^ The a?i' 
 
 * Were brought, &c., dieoudTjaav (5i' vdaro^. So the word is 
 
THK NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 116 
 
 titype whereunto,* even baptism, doth also now 
 save uSy not the puttitig away of the filth of the 
 fiesh, but the inquiry after God of a good con- 
 science,^ by the resurrection of Jesus Christ^ 
 
 This passage clearly shows that none but believers 
 have a right to baptism. 
 
 1 . Baptism is here said to be the antitype, or the 
 fact corresponding, to Noah's entrance into the ark. 
 As then the vengeance of God brought a flood upon 
 the earth, so a flood of divine wrath is now about to 
 overwhelm the ungodly. As the ark was divinely 
 appointed as a refuge for Noah and his family, so 
 Christ is the divinely appointed refuge for believers, 
 Isa., xxxii., 2. As Noah entered into the ark, so 
 believers take refuge in the merit and mediation of 
 Christ by faith ; but as they are here said to take 
 refuge in Christ by baptism, baptism must necessa- 
 rily be an act of faith. All who are in Christ are 
 
 translated, Acts, xxiv., 24. "Were safely conveyed through the 
 water." — Macknight. " Through the water : when they were on 
 the waters; dia for tv, as Rom., iv., 11." — Grotius. "Through 
 the flood — mediis in aquis." — Slade. 
 
 * The antitype to which, o) avTiTVTCOV. " 'AvTCTVirog, formed 
 after, copied, (to) avrirvTrov, a copy." — Liddell. " 'AvrirvTra, 
 copies, Heb., ix., 24; avTirvKog, corresponding, antitypical." — 
 Robinson. 
 
 t 2'Ae inquiry, &c., cvveLdrjaeog ayadfjQ eTvepuTTj/Lia elg Qebv. 
 *' ^'EiTZEp(j)T7]fia, an inquiry ; kirepuTao), to consult, to inquire of 
 {to XPV^TVP'-O'^i Tov Qebv)." — Liddell. " 'ETrepuTau, to ask; 
 Matt., xii., 10 ; xvii,, 10 ; Luke, xi., 46 ; John, xviii., 7 ; Acts, i., 6, 
 &c., &c. In the Septuagint, to ask, Josh., ix., 14 ; Isa., xxx., 2. 
 To inquire, 1 Kings, xxii., 7, 8 ; Jer., xxi., 2. To ask after God, 
 Isa., Ixv., 1, So Rom., x., 20. ' I was made manifest, rolg ifii 
 HT] kirepuTcJaL, to those that asked not after me.' Hence, hnepuTT)- 
 fia elg Qebv is ' an inquiry after God.' " — Bretschneider in Robinson. 
 " A petition to God.^'—Steiger. 
 
116 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 believers (Rom., xii., 5 ; xvi., 7 ; 1 Cor.,iii., 1 ; 2 Cor., 
 v., 17 ; xii., 2 ; Gal., i., 22, &c.) ; but all sincerely 
 baptized are in Christ, as Noah was in the ark ; and 
 therefore sincere baptism is an act of faith. 
 
 2. It is said here that baptism saves us. But We 
 are saved by grace through faith (John, iii., 1 6 ; Acts, 
 xvi., 31 ; 1 Cor., i., 22; Eph., ii., 8), and without 
 faith there is no salvation, John, iii., 36 ; Mark, xvi., 
 16; Heb., xi., 6. Baptism, therefore, without faith, 
 can not save us ; but as the statement of the apostle 
 is absolute that baptism does save us, it follows that 
 baptism implies faith, is an act of faith, and may be 
 put for faith itself. 
 
 3. It is here added, that the baptism which saves 
 us is not the external rite merely, but that which is 
 signified by it, " the inquiry after God of a good 
 conscience." Baptism, then, is the seeking after 
 God with a conscience set free from the guilt of sin 
 (Heb., ix., 14; x., 22), and a mind conscious of 
 habitual rectitude and sincerity. Acts, xxiii., 1 ; xxiv., 
 16; Rom., ix., 1; 1 Cor., iv., 4; 2 Cor., i., 12; 
 1 Tim., i., 5, 19 ; iii., 9 ; Tit., i., 15 ; Heb., xiii., 
 18 ; 1 Pet., iii., 16. But no one except a believer 
 can so seek after God. Faith only can free the 
 conscience from guilt, faith only can purify the heart 
 (Acts, XV., 9) ; and, therefore, no one but a believer 
 has a good conscience in either sense. And if bap- 
 tism is the seeking after God with a good conscience, 
 baptism must be an act of faith ; and so it is under- 
 stood by the best writers. 
 
 " Baptism, and the sincere profession of religion 
 conjoined with it, preserves us from perdition. "'^ 
 Kosenmirller in BloomJidcVs Digest 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 117 
 
 <' The best translation appears to be, 1. The peti- 
 tion of a good conscience, and then it notes the ef- 
 fect of baptism, viz., that holy confidence and secu- 
 rity wherewith a conscience sprinkled with the blood 
 of Christ addresses itself to God in prayer as a Fa- 
 ther." — Poole. 
 
 " Baptism, including all that is properly meant 
 by baptism as a religious rite, that is, baptism ad- 
 ministered in connection with true repentance and 
 true faith in the Lord Jesus, and when it is proper- 
 ly a symbol of putting away of sin, and of the re- 
 newing influences of the Holy Spirit, and an act of 
 unreserved dedication to God, now saves us. No 
 man can be saved without that regenerated and pu- 
 rified heart of which baptism is the appropriate sym- 
 bol." — Barnes. 
 
 " The godly ask, consult, and address God with 
 confidence ; the ungodly not. Therefore, the appeal 
 of a good conscience, i. e., the appeal wherein we 
 address God with a good conscience, our sins being 
 both pardoned and renounced, saves. This appeal 
 is made in baptism. "=^ — Bengel. 
 
 Since this is the nature of true baptism, it must 
 be an act of faith ; for believers alone have a good 
 conscience : to seek God with a good conscience is 
 to exercise faith in him ; baptism, therefore, is an 
 exercise of faith, and behevers alone can properly 
 apply for it. 
 
 * "Non dubium est quin Hebraicum nSxK^? spectaret aposto- 
 lus Piorum est rogare, consulere, compellare cum fiducid 
 
 Deum. At impiorum non rogare ilium, aut idola rogare. Salvat 
 ergo nos rogatio bonae conscientiae, i. e., rogatio qnk nos Deum 
 corapellaraus cum bon& conscienti4, peccatis remissis et depositis, 
 16, Heb,, X., 22. Haec rogatio in baptismo datur." — Bengel. 
 
118 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS. 
 
 If we recur to the passages which have been ex- 
 amined, we may see what abundant and varied evi- 
 dence they afford that baptism is an act of faith, 
 must be preceded by faith, and is a duty which none 
 but beUevers can rightly fulfill. 
 
 Baptism is a consecration to the Triune God, 
 Matt., xxviii., 19; and specially to Christ, Rom., 
 vi., 3. 
 
 It is a seeking after G-od with a good conscience, 
 1 Peter, iii., 20. 
 
 It must be preceded by true repentance. Acts, 
 ii., 38. , 
 
 It is the sign, manifestation, and completion of 
 regeneration, John, iii., 5 ; Tit., iii., 5. 
 
 It is a death unto sin and a new life of holiness, 
 Rom., vi., 3—6 ; Col., ii., 11, 12. 
 
 Those rightly baptized are in Christ, 1 Pet., iii., 20. 
 
 Those rightly baptized have put on Christ, Gal., 
 iii., 26. 
 
 True baptism secures pardon, Acts, ii., 38 ; xxii., 
 16. 
 
 True baptism secures the gift of the Spirit, Acts, 
 H., 38. 
 
 Baptism is generally necessary to salvation, John, 
 iii., 5. 
 
 True baptism saves, 1 Pet., iii., 20 ; Mark, xvi., 
 16 ; Tit., iii., 5. 
 
 Each one of these statements is a distinct and con- 
 clusive proof that baptism must be preceded by faith ; 
 each by itself is sufficient to prove that believers 
 alone should be baptized ; and when they are all 
 combined, the accumulated evidence is such that it 
 is difficult to understand how any one who is guided 
 
THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 119 
 
 in his religious opinions by the word of God can ar- 
 rive at any other conchision. 
 
 To the proofs that baptism implies faith which are 
 aflbrded by the spiritual effects ascribed to baptism, 
 let me add the proof afforded by its external conse- 
 quences. If baptism in the apostolic age was a pro- 
 fession of faith, baptized persons would naturally be 
 reckoned members of the Christian churches in con- 
 nection with which they were baptized ; but if bap- 
 tism were nothing but the exhibition of certain spir- 
 itual truths, a symbol administered to all who seri- 
 ously desired it, then baptized persons would not be- 
 come by the act of their baptism members of the 
 churches in connection with which they were bap- 
 tized, but would be admitted subsequently upon their 
 profession of faith. Now this latter case never hap- 
 pened. The baptized person was admitted at once 
 to communion with the Church in connection with 
 which he was baptized ; and there is no instance of 
 the contrary. If a man was baptized when there 
 was no Church, he could not join what did not exist. 
 Such was the situation of the Ethiopian eunuch. 
 But immediately that the three thousand were bap- 
 tized on the day of Pentecost, they became church 
 members, and were admitted to the table of the 
 Lord ; for we read that " they continued steadfastly 
 in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in break- 
 ing of bread and in prayers," Acts, ii., 42. 
 
 At Samaria, Corinth, and other places, the bap- 
 tized at once formed the Church, Acts, viii., xviii. ; 
 and, therefore, when disciples died, and the ranks of 
 the Christian army were broken, new converts were 
 *' baptized for the dead," 1 Cor., xv., 29. They be- 
 
120 BAPTISM TO NONE UUT BELIEVERS?.- 
 
 came at once disciples and soldiers of Christ in place 
 of the dead. 
 
 Let the reader consider well the force of this evi- 
 dence. Since baptism is the seal of regeneration, 
 none but the regenerate ought to be baptized; since 
 it is the sign of justification, it should be administer- 
 ed to those only who are justified ; since it was at- 
 tended by the gift of the Spirit, none but believers, 
 to whom that gift was limited, ought to receive it ; 
 since it saves, and there is no salvation except by 
 faith, it should be administered to those only who 
 have saving faith ; and since it conferred the right 
 of admission into the churches of saints and faithful 
 brethren, none but saints and faithful brethren ought 
 to receive it. If unbelievers are baptized, baptism is 
 the sign of regeneration to the unregenerate, and of 
 justification to those who are still in their sins ; it 
 ought to save and does not, and admits into com- 
 munion with the churches those who are unfitted for 
 that privilege. Such an application of baptism could 
 not be intended, and therefore the baptism of the un- 
 believer is contrary to Christ's authority, by which be- 
 lievers alone ought to be baptized. 
 
 VII. The Practice of the Churches of the 
 FIRST Centuries of the Christian Era affords 
 evidence that Believers alone ought to be 
 baptized. 
 
 It is only necessary to adduce one more proof that 
 baptism in the apostolic churches was considered a 
 profession of faith. If it was so considered, we may 
 expect to find that for some time the same belief con- 
 tinued to prevail. And if this belief is proved to 
 
PRACTICE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 121 
 
 have been common in the first four centuries of the 
 Christian era, we may consider it to afford some 
 proof that it was also the behef of the apostohc age. 
 As churches tend to decay, we may expect to find 
 relaxations in doctrine and discipline springing up of 
 themselves, but innovations requiring more spiritu- 
 ality and self-denial could scarcely prevail to any ex- 
 tent. The information which we possess on this 
 point may be comprised under the four following 
 heads : In the early Christian churches catechumens 
 were not baptized, a profession of faith was required 
 of applicants for baptism, the baptized were esteemed 
 regenerate behevers, and they jvere admitted at once 
 to the Lord's table. 
 
 1. In the early churches catechumens were not 
 baptized. 
 
 '< Eusebius reckons but three orders (in the 
 Church), rulers, believers, and catechumens." " The 
 name beUevers is here taken in a more strict sense, 
 only for the believing or baptized laity, in contradis- 
 tinction to the clergy and catechumens." "In this 
 sense the words believers, niarol, fideles, are com- 
 monly used in the ancient liturgies and canons to dis- 
 tinguish those that were baptized and allowed to par- 
 take of the holy mysteries from the catechumens." 
 " The believers, ttlgtoI, oxjicleles, being such as were 
 baptized, and thereby made complete and perfect 
 Christians, were upon that account dignified with 
 marks of distinction above the catechumens." "Cat- 
 echumens have the names diivaroi, dfivrjTOi, the un- 
 initiated or unbaptized." " None came to the Lord's 
 table but such as were first initiated by baptism : 
 whence the custom was, before they went to celebrate 
 
122 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVERS 
 
 the Eucharist, for a deacon to proclaim, 'Aym ayioig, 
 ' Holy things for holy men. Ye catechumens, go 
 forth.' "* " St. Austin, in one of his sermons to the 
 newly baptized, says, ' Having now dismissed the 
 catechumens, we have retained you only to be our 
 hearers'" (29). " Theodoret also says, 'We dis- 
 course obscurely of divine mysteries before the unbap- 
 tized, but when they are departed we speak plainly 
 to the baptized' " (30). " Catechumens were a de- 
 gree higher than either heathens or heretics, though 
 not yet consummated by the waters of baptism" 
 (iii., 2). " The Church found it necessary to lengthen 
 the time of probation, lest an over-hasty admission 
 of persons to baptism should either fill the Church 
 with vicious men, or make greater numbers of rene- 
 gadoes and apostates in time of persecution. For 
 this reason the Council of Eliberis appointed two 
 years' trial for new converts, that if in that time 
 they appeared to be men of a good conversation, they 
 might then be allowed the favor of baptism" (iii., 6). 
 " They were obliged to get some of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures by heart before they were baptized" (iii.,^ 11). 
 " Upon the approach of the Easter festival, it was 
 usual for the catechumens to give in their names in 
 order to be baptized" (17). " As they were all ex- 
 amined, so they were all exercised alike for twenty 
 days before baptism" (18). " During this same term 
 of twenty days the catechumens were also exercised 
 with abstinence and fasting as a suitable prepara- 
 tion for baptism" (21). 
 
 2. A profession of faith was required from appli- 
 cants fot baptism. 
 
 * Bingham, i., 22-24, 26, 27. 
 
PRACTICE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 123 
 
 '' Let such as give in their names to be baptized 
 be exercised a long time with abstinence from wine 
 and flesh, with imposition of hands and frequent eX' 
 amination, and so let them receive their baptism."— 
 Fourth Council of Carthage: Bingham, iii., 21. 
 " They that are about to receive baptism must 
 first make frequent prayer and fastings .... and 
 make confession of all their former sins." — Tertul- 
 lion, Ibid., 22. " Together with the creed they 
 were also taught how to make their proper responses 
 in baptism, particularly the form of renouncing the 
 devil and his works, and the contrary form of cov- 
 enanting with Christ and engaging themselves in his 
 service. . . . And these engagements they actually 
 entered into, not only at their baptism, but before it, 
 as a just preparation for it. ' For,' says the author 
 of the Constitutio?is, ' they ought first to abstain 
 from the contraries, and then come to the holy mys- 
 teries, having purged their hearts beforehand of all 
 spot, and wrinkle, and habits of sin' " (24). ** The 
 conditions required of all those who received it (bap- 
 tism) were the profession of a true faith and a sin- 
 cere repentance" (120). " Converts from Judaism 
 or Gentilism, before they could be admitted to bap- 
 tism, were obliged to spend some time in the state of 
 catechumens, to qualify them to make their profes- 
 sions of faith and a Christian life in their own per- 
 sons ; for wdthout such personal professions there was 
 ordinarily no admission of them to the privilege of 
 baptism" (179). " Their baptism was generally de- 
 ferred for two or three years, or a longer or shorter 
 time, till they could be sufficiently instructed and 
 diaciphned to the practice of a Christian life" (199). 
 
124 BAPTISM TO NONE BUT BELIEVEKb'; 
 
 " Men were obliged to give security to the Church 
 that they intended to live by the rules of the Gospel 
 before they were admitted to the mysteries of it" 
 (205). " Three things were now indispensably re- 
 quired of them — a formal and solemn renunciation 
 of the devil, a profession of faith made in the words 
 of some received creed, and a promise to live in obe- 
 dience to Christ or by the laws and rules of the Chris- 
 tian rehgion" (217). " The next thing required of 
 men at their baptism was a vow or covenant of obe- 
 dience to Christ, giving themselves up to the govern- 
 ment and conduct of Christ" (224). " Some urged 
 that to deny wicked men the privilege of baptism 
 was to root out the tares before the time. To which 
 St. Austin replies that this rejection of them from 
 baptism was not rooting out the tares, but rather not 
 sowing them as the devil did" (225). " Together 
 with this profession of obedience, there was also ex- 
 acted a profession of faith of every person to be bap- 
 tized. . . . One way or other the whole creed was re- 
 peated, and every individual article assented to by 
 men at their baptism" (228, 229). " The matter 
 is so incontestable, that the ancients did never bap- 
 tize into the profession of any single article, but into 
 a complete and perfect creed, that I think it need- 
 less to insist upon the proof of it" (230). 
 
 3 . The baptized were esteemed regenerate believ- 
 ers. The marol, or jideles, were such as were bap- 
 tized, and thereby made complete and perfect Chris- 
 tians. — Bingham, i., 25. " A noble effect of bap- 
 tism was regeneration, or a new birth, from the death 
 of sin to the life of righteousness, for every Christian 
 was supposed to be born again by the waters of bap- 
 
PRACTICE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 125 
 
 tism" (iii., 114). "Hence baptism had the name 
 of TraXiyyeveata ipvxrjg, the regeneration of the soul, 
 and vdop ^6)?y^." — Ibid. 
 
 4. The baptized were admitted at once to the 
 Lord's table. The words believers, Tnarol, Jideles, 
 are commonly used in the ancient liturgies to distin- 
 guish those that were baptized and allowed to par- 
 take of the holy mysteries from the catechumens (i., 
 23). " Believers were called re?,£ioi, the perfect, 
 because they were consummate Christians, who had 
 a right to participate in the holy Eucharist" (i., 26). 
 "As soon as the ceremonies of baptism were finished, 
 men were admitted to a participation of the Eucha- 
 rist ; for this was rd reXeiov, the perfection or con- 
 summation of a Christian, to which he was entitled 
 by virtue of his baptism. Therefore all the ancient 
 writers speak of this as the concluding privilege of 
 baptism, which in those days was always immedi- 
 ately subjoined to it" (iii., 332), "In reference to 
 its making men complete members of Christ's body, 
 it (baptism) had the name of reXsLOJOLg, consumma- 
 tion, because it gave men the perfection of Christians, 
 and a right to partake of the teXeiov, the Lord's 
 Supper" (i., 123). "A class of penitents only ex- 
 cepted, all other baptized persons were not only per- 
 mitted, but by the rules of the Church obliged to 
 communicate in the Eucharist under pain of ecclesi- 
 astical censure." — BingJiam, v., 297. 
 
126 INFANT BAPTISM, 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 Section I. General Considerations to shoiv the 
 Unlaiufulness of Infant Baptism. 
 
 We have seen that baptism is a solemn profession 
 of repentance, faith, and devotedness, which no one 
 but a behever can honestly make, and which, there- 
 fore, ought to be administered to no one without a 
 credible profession of faith. As, then, infants are in- 
 capable of such profession, they ought not to be bap- 
 tized without express authority from Christ, which 
 can not be adduced, or plain apostolic precedents, 
 which are not to be found. 
 
 Since Christ has made baptism to be a voluntary 
 act, what right have his ministers to substitute for 
 it what is perfectly involuntary ? No baptized in- 
 fe,nt has been baptized by his own consent, no person 
 baptized in infancy has ever in his own person hon- 
 ored Christ's ordinance ; but conformity was forced 
 upon him when he was as unconscious a,s a stone. 
 Can this be right ? Since Christ has required bap- 
 tism as a profession of faith in him, how can his 
 ministers lawfully administer it to those who can 
 make no profession, and thus, with respect to them, 
 completely alter the whole character of his ordinance ? 
 Since he has made repentance and faith necessary 
 to baptism, what right can they have to set his com- 
 
ITS UNLAWFULNESS. 127 
 
 mands aside by baptizing those who have neither 
 repented nor beUeved ? And since he has ordained 
 that saints and faithful brethren should be introduced 
 to fellowship with saints and faithful brethren by this 
 ordinance, how can it be proper that churches should 
 by it receive into their society unregenerate and un- 
 conscious infants instead ? 
 
 Infant baptism differs essentially from the baptism 
 of believers. The believer is active in his reception 
 of baptism, but the infant is passive ; the believer 
 asks for it as a privilege, the infant receives it with- 
 out its consent ; the one by it professes his faith, the 
 other professes nothing. The baptism of the believer 
 and th« baptism of the infant are therefore two dif- 
 ferent baptisms, with different significations and dif- 
 ferent consequences ; and both, therefore, to be law- 
 ful, must have a separate warrant from the Lord. 
 Since they are quite different institutions, the precept 
 which enjoins the one rather by inference forbids the 
 other. Since Christ has commanded a baptismal 
 profession, no man may without his authority hinder 
 that baptismal profession by substituting a parental 
 act for, the act of the person himself. Since bap- 
 tismal dedication in infancy sets aside, with reference 
 to all such infants, baptismal profession in after life, 
 the one must not be lightly substituted for the other, 
 lest a human invention be found to subvert a divine 
 ordinance. The commands of Christ to each peni- 
 tent believer are plain, " Repent, and be baptized ;" 
 " Arise, and wash away thy sins ;" " He that be- 
 lieveth and is baptized shall be saved." But where 
 is the authority for the baptismal dedication of the 
 infant without profession ? In vain do we look 
 
128 INFANT BAPTISM, 
 
 through the whole New Testament for a line, for a 
 word in its favor. 
 
 But why, it has been asked, do you not equally 
 insist on express authority for administering the 
 Lord's Supper to women ? Men are expressly com- 
 manded to receive it, but where is the express com- 
 mand for women ? I answer, that there is express 
 authority for their reception of it. Women who be- 
 li:eve in Christ are by that faith disciples of Christ, 
 and children of God, as much as believing men. Gal., 
 iii., 26—28 ; Acts, v., 14. When baptized, they are 
 baptized into the Church of Christ, Acts, viii.,.3; 
 They are, therefore, members of churches as well as 
 men, and are so addressed, Rom., xvi., 1, &c., &c. 
 They were, therefore, members of the Church at 
 Corinth, 1 Cor., xiv., 34. But all this Church is 
 said by the apostle to have assembled to receive the 
 Lord's Supper, women as well as men, 1 Cor., i., 2 ; 
 xi., 18, 20, 26. And as this habit was recognized 
 by the apostle, and not condemned, it had his sanc- 
 tion : see, also. Acts, ii., 38—42. Besides, if there 
 had been no express authority for the admission of 
 women to the Lord's table, there would have been 
 no similarity between the cases ; for in Christ Jesus 
 '- there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither 
 bond nor free, there is neither male nor female,*' Gal., 
 iii., 28. A believing woman before God is exactly 
 as a believing man ; and, therefore, the reception of 
 the Lord's Supper by a woman is exactly the same 
 spiritual act as the reception of it by a man ; and 
 since " there is neither male nor female in Christ 
 Jesus," a command given to disciples generally is 
 given to women as well as men ; and when Jesus 
 
ITS UNLAWFULNESS. 129 
 
 said to his disciples respecting the cup, " Drink you 
 all of it," he said it to women as well as men. 
 
 What a shallow fallacy likewise it is to argue that 
 because the same spiritual act may be jDcrformed by 
 two classes of believers, of which one alone has been 
 named in the precept, that therefore two opposite 
 acts may be performed by these two classes I When 
 one believer receives the Lord's Supper, it is the 
 same act as when another receives it ; and we may 
 infer the duty of the one from the duty of the other. 
 But when an unconscious infant has baptism forced 
 upon it, and, being yet unregenerate, receives the 
 sign of regeneration, its baptism is a rite totally dif- 
 ferent from the baptism of a believer who, as regen- 
 erate, voluntarily expresses by baptism his faith and 
 his obedience. The duty, therefore, of one believer 
 to baptize his infant can not be inferred from the duty 
 of another believer to be himself baptized ; and the 
 case which rests upon so forced an analogy must be 
 weak indeed. 
 
 But if there is no analogy between the reception 
 of the Lord's Supper by women who believe and the 
 reception of baptism by unconscious infants, there is 
 a close analogy between the reception of baptism by 
 an infant and its reception of the Lord's Supper. 
 While believers are commanded to receive both 
 baptism and the Lord's Supper, the word of God is 
 silent respecting the administration of either sacra- 
 ment to infants. It is, therefore, by the nature and 
 design of the sacraments that we must judge wheth- 
 er or not they are to be administered to them ; and 
 the analogy between the two sacraments demon- 
 strates that either both should be received by infants, 
 
 J 
 
130 INFANT BAPTISM, 
 
 or both deferred till the infant has become a believer. 
 As the adult must believe before he can properly re- 
 ceive the Lord's Supper, so he must believe before 
 he can properly receive baptism. As the reception 
 of the Lord's Supper is a profession of faith, so the 
 reception of baptism is a profession of faith likewise. 
 If, therefore, the adult is qualified for baptism, he is 
 qualified for the Lord's Supper ; and if he is dis- 
 qualified for the Lord's Supper, he is disqualified for 
 baptism. The qualifications for each ordinance are 
 the same. But what is true of the sacraments gen- 
 erally, must be true of them with respect to all who 
 receive them ; for the sacraments remaining the 
 same, the qualifications must remain the same also. 
 If, therefore, the infant is qualified for baptism, he 
 is qualified for the Lord's Supper ; and if he is dis- 
 qualified for the Lord's Supper, he is disqualified for 
 baptism. Hence it follows, that if you may infer 
 the baptism of infants from the baptism of believers, 
 you may also infer the admission of infants to the 
 Lord's table from the admission of believers to it, 
 for the qualification or disqualification of infants is 
 the same in both cases. But if it be superstitious 
 and unlawful to administer the Lord's Supper to in- 
 fants because they have not the faith which is requi- 
 site for it, so it must be equally superstitious and 
 unlawful to administer baptism to them when they 
 are equally incapable of the faith which is requisite 
 for it. If a distinct authority is wanted to justify 
 the admission of infants to the Lord's Supper, it 
 must be equally wanted to justify their admission to 
 baptism, because both ordinances require the same 
 qualifications. 
 
ITS UNLAWFULNESS. 131 
 
 To those who ask authority for their exclusion 
 from the ordinance of baptism, I reply that no such 
 exclusion is needed. Christ's law is, "Repent, and 
 be baptized." We know that we do his will when 
 we baptize the believer ; and as he has not com- 
 manded the baptism of infants, it can be no viola- 
 tion of his command to delay their baptism till they 
 become believers. His silence renders it improbable 
 that he intended them to be baptized ; the required 
 conditions of baptism render it more improbable ; 
 and if no positive precept be found prohibiting the 
 baptism of infants, as no precept is found prohibit- 
 ing their reception of the Lord's Supper, yet the re- 
 vealed nature and design of both sacraments amoun 
 to such a prohibition. 
 
 All that the advocates of infant baptism can ven- 
 ture to say with reference to the evidence of the 
 New Testament is, that the exclusion of infants is 
 not certain. But is this evidence enough upon which 
 to baptize them ? May Christ's requirements of re- 
 pentance and faith be so lightly set aside ? Let us 
 recall the rule of the Apostle Paul in all cases of 
 doubt, " Let every man be fully persuaded in his 
 own mind. . . . He that doubteth is damned if he 
 eat, because he eateth not of faith ; for whatsoever is 
 not of faith is sin," Rom., xiv., 5, 23. Since there 
 is no evidence that Christ intended infants to be bap- 
 tized, and it is certain that hef intended believers to 
 be so, it is safer to follow his declared will than un- 
 certain inferences which may be in opposition to it. 
 Jesuit morality is indeed of a diflerent kind. " Prob- 
 ability," the Jesuit says, "is a doctrine according to 
 which, in the concurrence (collision?) of two opinions, 
 
132 INFANT BAPTISM, 
 
 of which the one is more probable and in conformity 
 with the law, the other less probable but favoring 
 concupiscence, it is lawful to follow the latter in prac- 
 tice." — Extraits des Assertions, torn, i., p. 27, note. 
 " The authority of one good and learned doctor ten- 
 ders an opinion probable."* " That any opinion 
 may be probable to me, it is sufficient that I have a 
 reason which seems to me good, or the authority of 
 a good doctor which is equivalent to a reason,"! 
 "It is sufficient for an inexperienced and unlearned 
 man to follow the opinion which he thinks to bo 
 probable, because it is maintained by good men, who 
 are versed in that art, although the opinion may be 
 neither the more safe, nor the more common, nor 
 the more probable. "| " It would be an insupport- 
 able burden to the consciences of men, and liable to 
 many scruples, if we were bound to follow and ex- 
 amine the more probable opinions. "§ '< It is law- 
 ful to follow the more probable opinion, rejecting the 
 less probable, although it may be the more safe. It 
 is lawful to follow the less probable opinion, although 
 it may be the less safe. It is sufficient for unlearn- 
 ed men to act rightly, that they follow the opinion 
 
 * " Infertur . . . unius doctoris probi et docti auctoritatem opin- 
 ionem reddere probabilem." — Vincent Filliucius. 
 
 t " Ut aliqua opinio sit mihi probabilis, suffi'cit mihi ratio, quas 
 mihi videatur bona, vel auctoritas doctoris boni, quae rationi aequi- 
 valeat." — George de Rhodes. 
 
 X " Homini imperito et illiterate satis esse si sequitur opinio- 
 nem quam ipse putat esse probabilem, quia docetur a probis et 
 peritis in ea arte ; etiamsi ilia nee sit magis tuta, nee magis com- 
 munis, nee magis probabilis." — John of Salas. 
 
 <5> " Intolerabile esset onus conscientiarum, ac multis scrupulis 
 expositum, si opiniones probabiliores sequi et investigare tenere- 
 raur." — Stephen Fagundez. 
 
ITS UNLAWFULNESS. 133 
 
 of a learned man . . neither is it necessary to be 
 certain of acting rightly. "=^ '* He does not sin who 
 follows a probable opinion, rejecting the more prob- 
 able, whether the latter be the opinion of others or 
 of the agent himself, and whether the less probable 
 opinion which he follows be the safer or the less 
 safe."t " We may follow a probable opinion with- 
 out sin, rejecting that v/hich is more probable and 
 more safe."$ " In fact, many opinions may be ad- 
 duced which are prudently probable, although they 
 may be contrary to Scripture." § " We are never 
 more free from the violation of the law than when 
 we persuade ourselves that we are not bound by the 
 law. . . . He who says that the law is not binding 
 can not sin. He, therefore, who follows the less 
 rigid and less probable opinion, can not sin."|| " Even 
 in the administration of the sacraments it is lawful 
 to follow the less probable things, rejecting the more 
 probable. "IT " Of two contradictory probable opin- 
 ions touching the legality or illegality of any human 
 action, every one may follow in practice or in action 
 that which he would prefer, although it may appear 
 to the agent himself less probable in theory. "=^=^ 
 
 * "Nee requiritur certitude bene operandi."— Fmcewf Filliucius. 
 
 t Nicholas Baldel. t Anthony Escobar. 
 
 () " De facto dantur plures opiniones prudenter probabiies, licet 
 sint contra scripturam." — Charles Anthony Casnedi. 
 
 II "Nunquam sumus magis liberi a violatione legis, quam 
 quando nobis persuademus, nos non teneri lege. Qui autem de- 
 cet legem non obligare peccare non potest." — Ibid. 
 
 IT " Etiam in administratione sacramentorum licitum est sequi 
 minus probabilia, relictis probabilioribus." — Matthetv Stoz. 
 
 ** " In duabus contradicentibus probabilibus opinionibus, quae 
 versantur circa actionem humanam, an ea licita sit, necne, quisque 
 in praxi, sive operatione, sequi potest quam maluerit ; etsi ipsi 
 operanti speculative minus probabilis videatur." — Paul Laymann. 
 
J 34 INFANT BAPTIBM, 
 
 This Jesuit doctrine certainly justifies infant bap- 
 tism. The Scripture says, "Let every man be fully 
 persuaded in his own mind." Let every man ascer- 
 tain by examination of Scripture that his course of 
 conduct is agreeable to the will of God. Let him 
 obtain complete scriptural evidence that he may 
 lawfully neglect to make a profession of his faith by 
 immersion. The Jesuit replies, " It would be an 
 unsupportable burden to the consciences of men, and 
 render them liable to many scruples, if we were 
 bound to examine and to follow the more probable 
 opinions. It is lawful to follow the more probable 
 opinion, rejecting the less probable, although the lat- 
 ter may be the more safe. The authority of one 
 good and learned doctor renders an opinion proba- 
 ble." " Scripture seems to command the immersion 
 of all behevers as a profession of their faith ; but 
 Christians can not be bound to ascertain this duty 
 for themselves. Many excellent men think infant 
 sprinkling is sufficient. Their authority renders this 
 opinion probable. It must be lawful to follow it." 
 
 Scripture says, " He that doubteth is damned if 
 he eat, because he eateth not of faith ; for whatsoever 
 is not of faith, is sin :" in other words, " He that 
 doubteth the sufficiency of infant sprinkling is con- 
 demned if he adheres to it, by refusing to profess his 
 faith by immersion, because he adheres to it with- 
 out conviction that it is the will of God ; for what-' 
 soever is done without belief that it is the will of 
 God, is sin." 
 
 The Jesuit replies, " In the collision of two opin- 
 ions, of which the one is more probable and in con- 
 formity with the law, the other less probable, but 
 
(TS UNLAWFULNESS. 135 
 
 favoring our wishes, it is lawful to follow the latter 
 ill practice. It is much more agreeable not to be 
 unmersed, though immersion was probably intended ; 
 and therefore it is lawful to adhere to infant sprink- 
 ling. It is lawful to follow the less probable opin- 
 ion, although it may be the less safe. Neither is it 
 necessary to be certain of acting rightly. We are 
 certain that Christ commanded believers to be im- 
 mersed. We can not be certain that he allowed 
 infants to be sprinkled ; but it is lawful to supersede 
 the immersion of believers by the sprinkling of in- 
 fants notwithstanding." 
 
 Christ has said by his Apostle Peter, " Repent, 
 and be immersed, every one of you ;" and by his own 
 lips, " He that belie veth and is baptized shall be 
 saved." How, then, can Christian churches law- 
 fiilly prevent believers in general from being bap- 
 tized, by taking care to baptize them long before, 
 when they are unregenerate infants ? 
 
 The Jesuit replies, " There are many opinions 
 which are prudently probable, although they may be 
 contrary to Scripture. The sprinkling of infants is 
 one of these. Christ commands believers to be im- 
 mersed ; but we think that he could not intend it. 
 We are not, therefore, bound by his command ; and 
 we are never more free from the violation of the law 
 than when we persuade ourselves that we are not 
 bound by it. We declare that Christ's command 
 to us to be immersed does not bind us ; and he who 
 says that the law is not binding can not sin. It is 
 utterly distasteful and offensive to be plunged into 
 water as a profession of a death to sin, and a new life 
 of devotedness to God. And as we prefer the sprink- 
 
136 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 ling of US when we are infants to any such baptismal 
 profession to be made by us as men, we may law^fuUy 
 adhere to the former ; for of two contradictory prob- 
 able opinions, touching the legality or illegality of 
 any action, every one may follow in practice that 
 which he prefers." 
 
 This is human nature. In examining, therefore, 
 the claims of a duty which is unfashionable and de- 
 spised, let us take care that we are not tainted by 
 Jesuit morality, and that we do not refuse to make 
 a profession which Christ has enjoined, from respect 
 to human authority or the fear of human censure, 
 from custom or convenience, from prejudice or pride. 
 It is certain that Christ has enjoined the immersion 
 of believers, and let it be remembered that the sprink- 
 ling of infants is not an addition to this law, but a 
 substitution for it. 
 
 *' The Reformers knew no baptism," says Mr. 
 Budd, " but that of infants, and therefore prepared 
 no service for adults : that was a subsequent provi- 
 sion, to meet the evils which had been introduced by 
 times of Anabaptist confusion. They had no idea 
 of a Church, the membership of which was not con- 
 stituted by infant baptism." — BudcVs Pref., 233. 
 
 So completely had the baptism of believers, which 
 alone is known in the New Testament, vanished from 
 the Churches. Even now, except in the Baptist 
 churches, not one person in a hundred is baptized 
 as a penitent believer ; the baptism of profession is 
 vanished, the baptism of dedication by another has 
 taken its place. Spontaneous baptism is gone, the 
 sprinkling of those who are without thought or will 
 remains. Christ's law is nearly sunk into obhvion, 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 137 
 
 the apocryphal corollary governs almost universal 
 practice. Our- Lord has said by his apostle, " Re- 
 pent, and be baptized ;" and the Churches sprinkle 
 those incapable of repentance. The New Testament 
 records the baptism of believers and of no infants ; 
 the Churches now sprinkle infants and scarcely any 
 believers. All the passages on baptism in the New 
 Testament have lost their meaning, because baptism 
 has been severed from faith, regeneration, remission 
 of sins, the death to sin, the new life, the putting on 
 Christ, salvation ; all connected with baptism in the 
 New Testament have ceased to be connected with 
 itj because water is now administered to a different 
 class of persons without faith. And all this has 
 happened without any authority whatever from our 
 Lord. 
 
 To my mind, this alone is decisive. Inferences 
 and indirect arguments — for an addition to Christ's 
 law, which in reality subverts it — -are inadmissible. 
 Nothing but express and positive enactments can 
 sanction an innovation so entirely at variance with 
 the spirit of the original institution. Such enact- 
 ment is wanting ; and the disciples of Christ seem, 
 therefore, bound to adhere to his declared will. 
 
 Section II. Infant Ba'ptmn is ?iot ivarranted by 
 the Circicmcision of Jeivish Children. 
 
 Among the arguments used by the defenders of 
 infant baptism, none appears to me stronger than, 
 that which is derived from the circumcision of Jew- 
 ish infants. Able men have labored hard to justify 
 the former by the latter, but, unless I greatly mis- 
 take, without the smallest success. The argument 
 
138 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 has been stated thus : " Before the coming of Christ 
 the covenant of grace had been revealed, and under 
 that covenant there existed a divinely instituted con- 
 nection between children and their parents ; the sign 
 and seal of the blessings of the covenant was by di- 
 vine appointment administered to children, and there 
 can be produced no satisfactory evidence of this con- 
 nection having been done away." Here the baptism 
 of infants now is founded upon the circumcision of 
 infants under tlia Abrahamic covenant ; and I un- 
 dertake to show, in opposition to this statement, that 
 the Abrahamic covenant, on the contrary, condemns 
 the' baptism of infants. 
 
 First, let us examine the national covenant made 
 by the Almighty with Abraham. And here three 
 points must occupy our attention — the persons with 
 whom the covenant was made, the nature of the 
 covenant, and the token which was enjoined. 
 
 I. Let us consider the 2^6 r softs who icere the ob- 
 jects of the National Covenant which God made 
 with Abraham. It is sufficient simply to recall the 
 promises themselves. When God called Abraham 
 in Mesopotamia, he said to him, " T will raiake of thee 
 a great nation ;" and when Abraham reached the land 
 of Canaan, he added, " Unto thy seed will I give this 
 land," Gen., xii., 7. Some years after the promise 
 was thus amplified, "All the land which thou seest, 
 to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever . . . 
 and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth," 
 Gen., xiii., 15, 16. "Look now toward heaven, 
 and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them ; 
 and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be," Gen., 
 XV., 5. "As for me, behold, my covenant is with 
 
NOT WAI^ANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 139 
 
 thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations ; 
 and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, 
 the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land 
 of Canaan, for an everlasting possession ; and I will 
 be their God," Gen,, xvii., 4—8. Ishmael, hov/- 
 ever, the son of Abraham, was not to be included 
 in the covenant, which was made exclusively with 
 Isaac and his posterity. "And God said, Sarah thy 
 wife shall bear thee a son indeed ; and thou shalt 
 call his name Isaac ; and I will establish my cove- 
 nant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with 
 his seed after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard 
 thee . . . but my covenant will I establish with 
 Isaac," Gen., xvii., 19—21. "For in Isaac shall 
 thy seed be called," Gen., xxi,, 12. As Ishmael 
 had been rejected, so was Esau, the son of Isaac, 
 Gen., xxvii., 27, 33 ; MaL, i., 2, 3 ; and then the 
 covenant was renewed to Jacob thus : "I am the 
 Lord God of Abraham thy father ; the land whereon 
 thou liest to thee will I give it and u'nto thy seed ; 
 and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth," 
 Gen., xxviii., 13,14. This covenant was afterward 
 renewed to the twelve tribes at Horeb, Exod., ii., 
 23-25 ; iii., 6-8 ; iv., 22, 23 ; vi., 2-8 ; Ps. cv., 
 8-10, 11, 12. 
 
 From these passages, we see that all the sons of 
 Jacob, with all their posterity, were the objects of 
 this national covenant. The magnitude and the 
 perpetuity of the blessings granted under it were 
 made to depend upon the obedience of the people to 
 the law of God ; but the title to a place within the 
 covenant was simply a descent from Abraham, Isaac, 
 and Jacob. Ignorant- or instructed, godly or un- 
 
140 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 godly, all the children of Israel were, by their rela- 
 tionship to Abraham, the covenanted nation. The 
 brothers who conspired the murder of Joseph ; Ko- 
 rah, Dathan, and Abiram, who perished in their 
 sins ; all those who died in the wilderness through 
 their disbelief and rebellion ; the multitudes who fell 
 into idolatry during the rule of the judges ; those of 
 whom the Almighty said, in a later period of their 
 history, " I have nourished and brought up children, 
 and they have rebelled against me ;" those who 
 were driven to Babylon for their sins, and those who, 
 after rejecting Christ, continued " to fill up their sins 
 alway because wrath was come upon them to the 
 utmost" (1 Thess., ii., 16), were all of them within 
 the provisions of the national Abrahamic covenant. 
 From this brief statement, it is evident how little 
 similarity there was between the Jewish nation and 
 the Church of Christ. The Church is composed of 
 "saints and faithful brethren . . . sanctified in Christ 
 Jesus, and called to be saints" (Col., i., 2 ; 1 Cor., 
 i., 2 ; XV., 28) ; the nation included multitudes of 
 unregenerate persons, who were members by birth. 
 The Church is the body of Christ and his bride 
 (Eph., i., 22 ; Col., i., 18, 24) ; the Jewish nation 
 crucified him. The Church is subject to Christ 
 and to God (Eph., v., 24) ; the nation was rebell- 
 ious against the divine authority, Isaiah, i., 4. The 
 Church is a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a 
 peculiar people, bought with the blood of God (1 
 Pet , ii., 9 ; Acts, xx., 28) ; the nation was left in 
 its sins, Rom., ix., 32 ; John, viii., 24. The 
 Church was typified by Sarah the free-woman, and 
 its members by Isaac the child of promise (Gal., iv. 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 141 
 
 26—28) ; the nation by Hagar the bond-woman, and 
 its members by Ishmael the outcast, Gal., iv., 24, 
 25, 29, 30. The Church is the general assembly 
 of the children of God, whose names are written in 
 heaven, and who are all as the first-born, because 
 all are heirs of God (Heb., xii., 23 ; Pcom., viii., 
 14—17) ; to the chief members of the nation, Jesus 
 said^. " Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts 
 of your father ye will do," John, viii., 44. The 
 Church is the object of Christ's unchangeable love 
 (Eph., v., 25) ; the nation was the object of his 
 wrath, 1 Thess., ii., 16 ; Luke, xix., 27. The 
 Church is kept by the power of God through faith 
 unto salvation, and the counsels of hell can not pre- 
 vail against it (1 Pet., i., 5 ; Matt., xvii., 18) ; the 
 nation was judicially hardened and then cast away, 
 Isaiah, vi., 10 ; John, xii., 39, 40 ; Matt., xxi., 43. 
 
 Instead of being the Church, the Jewish nation 
 is frequently represented as the world in contrast 
 with the Church, John, i., 10 ; vii., 7 ; viii., 23 ; 
 xiii., 1 ; xiv., 17, 19, 22 ; xv., 19 ; xvi., 20 ; xvii., 
 6, 14. 
 
 There is no force in the objection that the nation 
 of Israel was termed by the martyr Stephen " the 
 Church, efcicXTjaLa, in the wilderness," Acts, xii., 38. 
 So a tumultuous crowd of idolaters at Ephesus 
 was termed by the Evangelist Luke eKKk7}aia, the 
 Church, Acts, xix., 32, 41. And the one was no 
 more like the Church of God than the other. The 
 idolaters at Ephesus were called a Church, or assem- 
 bly, simply because they were assembled in the thea- 
 ter ; and the rebellious Israelites at Sinai were termed 
 the Church, or assembly, because they were assem- 
 
142 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 bled at the foot of the mountain ; and if the one civil 
 assembly was not the Church of God, so neither was 
 the other. When was the nation of Israel, after it 
 ceased to be an assembly by occupying the land of 
 Canaan, called a Church ? Never. Nor was Is- 
 rael any more the Church because it was called to 
 be holy, God said unto them, " If ye will obey my 
 voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be 
 a peculiar treasure to me above all people ; for all 
 the earth is mine, and ye shall be unto me a king- 
 dom of priests and a holy nation," Exod., xix., 5, 6. 
 *' Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am 
 holy," Lev., xix., 2. But these commands and 
 promises did not make them the Church. England 
 and France, no less than Israel, are commanded to 
 obey the commands of God, and so are India and 
 China, But England and France, and India and 
 China, are not therefore the Church of Christ, And 
 these nations have promises as great as those Avhich 
 were given to Israel ; for if they would keep God's 
 covenant of "grace, they would become also portions 
 of his Church. But just as modern nations who 
 will not believe and obey the Gospel are, therefore, 
 no portions of the Church of Christ, so Israel, which 
 would not obey God nor keep his covenant, never 
 was to him a kingdom of priests nor a holy nation. 
 There was a church of God within that nation, as 
 there are churches of Christ Avithin England, France, 
 India, and China ; but Israel itself was no more the 
 Church than these nations are. 
 
 " The covenant made with Abraham was made 
 first with himself; 2, with his household generally; 
 3. with his servants bv name, whether born in his 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 143 
 
 house or bought with money ; 4. with his infant chil- 
 dren, afterward hmited particuhxrly to the descend- 
 ants of Isaac, and afterward again to the descendants 
 of Jacob ; 5. to their descendants as a people ; 6. to 
 their little ones, or infants, in every generation ; 7. to 
 their servants universally ; and, 8. to the strangers 
 who dwelt in their nation." — Divight, v., 325. 
 
 From this enumeration, it is plain that the cove- 
 nanted nation was not the Church of God, and that 
 the " Abrahamic Church" is only a scriptural or true 
 expression when it denotes the elect people of God, 
 the true believers within the nation, not the nation 
 itself; the spiritual children of Abraham, not his- 
 natural descendants ; and when 9, proselyte and his 
 children were admitted into that national covenant, 
 they were no more admitted into the Church of God 
 than a Turk and his family would be by becoming 
 naturalized in this country. 
 
 II. TJte Nature of the Abrahamic National Gov- 
 extant. — In the passages already cited we have seen 
 that God was pleased repeatedly to enter into cove- 
 nant with Abraham on behalf of his children. This 
 covenant was confirmed to Isaac : "And God said to 
 Abraham, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son in- 
 deed ; and thou shalt call his name Isaac ; and I 
 will establish my covenant with him for an everlast- 
 ing covenant, and with his seed after him," Gen., xvii., 
 19. And after Abraham's death God said to Isaac, 
 " I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abra- 
 ham thy father ; and I will make thy seed to mul- 
 tiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy 
 seed all these countries, and in thy seed shall all the 
 nations of the earth be blessed ; because that Abra- 
 
144 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 ham obeyed my voice," Gen., xxvi., 3. Some years 
 later the Almighty confirmed the covenant to Jacob 
 (Gen., xxviii., 1 3—1 5) ; and when at length the time 
 came that the covenant was to be fulfilled in the act- 
 ual enjoyment of the promised land by the children 
 of Jacob, God again confirmed the covenant to them. 
 Having now grown into a nation, and being oppress- 
 ed by the King of Egypt, they cried to God, "And 
 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his 
 covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, 
 and God looked upon the children of Israel, and God 
 had respect unto them," Exod., ii., 24. "And the 
 Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of 7ny 
 people,'" Exod., iii., 7. " I am the Lord, and I ap- 
 peared unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I 
 have also established my covenant with them to give 
 them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrim- 
 age wherein they were strangers. I have also heard 
 the groaning of the children of Israel . . . and I have 
 remembered my covenant . . . and I will take you to 
 me for a people, and I will be to you a God . . . and 
 I will bring you into the land concerning which I did 
 swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob," 
 Exod., vi., 2—8. At Sinai God required the people 
 to enter therefore into covenant with him to obey 
 him : "And Moses took the book of the covenant, 
 and read m the audience of the people ; and they 
 said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be 
 obedient. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled 
 it on the people, and said. Behold, the blood of the 
 covenant which the Lord hath made with you con- 
 cerning all these words," Exod., xxiv., 7, 8. It was 
 then renewed on the banks of the Jordan, just before 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 145 
 
 they began the conquest of Canaan, as we learn froni 
 the following words of Moses : " Keep, therefore, the 
 words of this covenant : . . . ye stand this day all of 
 you before the Lord your God ; . . . that thou shouldst 
 enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into 
 his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee 
 this day ; that he may establish thee to-day for a peo- 
 ple unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, 
 as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto 
 thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob," 
 Deut., xxix., 9—13. Upon all which transactions 
 the author of the 10 0th Psalm has made this com- 
 ment : " He hath remembered his covenant forever, 
 the word which he commanded to a thousand gener- 
 ations ; which he made with Abraham, and his oath 
 unto Isaac, and confirmed the same to Jacob for a 
 law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. . . . 
 Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in 
 the land of Ham. And he increased his people great- 
 ly, and made them stronger than their enemies. . . . 
 He brought them forth also with silver and gold. . . . 
 He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light 
 in the night. . . . He opened the rock, and the waters 
 gushed out. . . . For he remembered his holy prom- 
 ise, and Abraham his servant ; and he brought forth 
 liis people Avith joy," Psalm cv., 8—10, 23, 24, 37, 
 39, 42, 43. All these were several confirmations 
 of the covenant made with Abraham on behalf of 
 his descendants by Jacob. As the covenant with 
 Isaac was a confirmation of the covenant with Abra- 
 ham, and as the covenant with Jacob was a confirm- 
 ation of that made with Abraham and Isaac, so the 
 covenant made with the twelve tribes was the con- 
 
 K 
 
146 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 firmation of that made with Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob ; and that made on the banks of the Jordan 
 was the confirmation of that made at Sinai. The 
 Sinaitic covenant was no more distinct from that 
 made with Abraham than the covenant made with 
 Isaac was distinct from it. If Moses said to the peo- 
 ple, " The Lord our God made a covenant with us 
 in Horeb" (Deut., v., 2), Moses also has recorded 
 that God said, " My covenant will I establish with 
 Isaac," Gen., xvii., 21. As the former was the con- 
 firmation of the covenant with Abraham, so was the 
 latter ; and we can no more argue that the Sinaitic 
 covenant was distinct from the covenant with Abra- 
 ham, because Moses said, " The Lord made a cove- 
 nant with us in Horeb," than we can argue that the 
 covenant at the Jordan was distinct from that at Si- 
 nai, because Moses said to those who were about to 
 enter the promised land, " Ye stand this day all of 
 you before the Lord, that thou shouldst enter into 
 covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath 
 which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day." 
 The covenant at Mount Sinai was simply the cove- 
 nant made with Abraham renewed and confirmed ; 
 and this is argued both by Dwight and Witsius in 
 the following terms : 
 
 " It was the same covenant formerly made by 
 God with Abraham, and afterward renewed with 
 Isaac and Jacob. It was the same in substance : 
 * That thoio shouldst enter into covenant %cith the 
 Lord thy God, that he may establish thee this day 
 for a peojole unto himself, and that he may be unto 
 thee a God^ Deut., xxix., 13. It was the same in 
 fact : ' As he hath said i-into thee, and as he hath 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 147 
 
 sworn unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.' " — 
 Dwight, v., 325. 
 
 " That promise (of the land of Canaan) was not 
 first made at Mount Sinai, but long before, even to 
 the Patriarch Abraham, four hundred and thirty 
 years before the giving of the law. Gen., xii., 7 ; 
 XV., 7. Hence it appears what answer ought to be 
 given to Jer., xxxi., 32, and Gal., iv., 24 ; namely, 
 that the first institution of the old testament (cove- 
 nant) is not treated of in these places, but the sol- 
 emn renewal and confirmation of it, and the acces- 
 sion of many new rites ; for God himself often testi- 
 fied concerning that time, that he did those things 
 in virtue of his covenant entered into with Abraham, 
 Exod., ii., 24 ; vi., 8. It therefore remains that 
 the testament (covenant) about giving the land of 
 Canaan was not then first published, but solemnly 
 renewed, when God was now about to accomplish 
 it." — Witsius, i., 422. 
 
 Let us now consider the terms of the covenant. 
 First, the Almighty said to Abraham, " I will make 
 of thee a great nation," Gen., xii., 2. " Look now 
 toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to 
 number them ; so shall thy seed be," Gen., xv., 5. 
 "Unto thy seed will I give this land," Gen., xii., 7. 
 "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the 
 River of Egypt unto the great river, the River Eu- 
 phrates," Gen., XV., 18. "I will make thee ex- 
 ceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee ; 
 and kings shall come out of thee. And I will es- 
 tablish my covenant between me and thee, and thy 
 seed after thee in their generations, for an everlast- 
 ing covenant ; to be a God unto thee, and to thy 
 
148 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to 
 thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a 
 stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting 
 possession ; and I will be their God," Gen., xvii., 
 6—8. " In blessing I will bless thee, and in multi- 
 plying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the 
 heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore ; 
 and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies," 
 Gen., xxii., 17. "I will be their God," Gen., xvii., 
 8. "I will take you to me for a people, and I will 
 be to you a God," Exod., vi., 7. " Now, therefore, 
 if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my cove- 
 nant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me 
 above all people ; for all the earth is mine ; and ye 
 shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy 
 nation," Exod., xix., 5, 6. " And Moses came and 
 told the people all the words of the Lord, and all 
 the judgments ; and all the people answered with 
 one voice and said, All the words which the Lord 
 hath said will we do," Exod., xxiv., 3. " And Mo- 
 ses took the book of the covenant, and read in the 
 audience of the people ; and they said, All that the 
 Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient," Exod., 
 xxiv., 7. " Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and 
 keep my judgments, and do them ; and ye shall 
 dwell in the land in safety," Lev., xxv., 18. ''If 
 ye walk in my statutes, and keep my command- 
 ments, and do them, then will I give you rain in 
 due season, and the land shall yield her increase. 
 And ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell 
 m your land safely. And I will give peace in the 
 land, and ye shall chase your enemies. And I will 
 multiply you. and establish my covenant with you 
 
NOT VVARRANTEU BY UlRCUMCISION. 149 
 
 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, 
 and ye shall be my people. But if ye will not 
 hearken unto me, and will not do all these com- 
 mandments, I will set my face against you," Lev,, 
 xxvi., 3^7, 9, 12, 14, 17. See the whole chapter. 
 "And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this 
 people provoke me ? and how long will it be ere 
 they believe me, for all the signs which I have show- 
 ed among them ? I will smite them with the pest- 
 ilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a 
 greater nation, and mightier than they," Numb., 
 xiv., 11, 12. " Say unto them. As truly as I live, 
 saith the Lord, your carcasses shall fall in this wil- 
 derness . . . and ye shall know ray breach of prom- 
 ise," Numb., xiv., 28, 29, 34. " Take heed unto 
 yourselves lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord 
 your God. ... I call heaven and earth to witness 
 against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly per- 
 ish from off the land," Deut., iv., 23, 26. " Behold, 
 I set before you this day a blessing and a curse ; a 
 blessing if ye obey the commandment of the Lord 
 your God . . . and a curse if ye will not obey," Deut., 
 xi., 26, 27. " Keep, therefore, the words of this 
 covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all 
 that ye do," Deut., xxix., 9. 
 
 The following things are evident from these pas- 
 sages : 
 
 1. This covenant was made with the whole na- 
 tion. God required Israel to obey him, and if they 
 revolted against him they would be condemned and 
 punished ; but they would be punished as a cove- 
 nanted people. The covenant required them to be 
 holy, but it was made with them all, holy or unholy, 
 
150 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 as the children of Abraham. When holy, they kept 
 liis covenant and were blessed. When unholy, they 
 broke his covenant and were punished ; but, holy or 
 unholy, they were within the covenant. The unbe- 
 lievers who perished in the wilderness experienced 
 God's breach of promise (Numb., xiv., 34), and 
 therefore the promise had been made to them : Na- 
 dab and Abihu, Hophni and Phinehas, were wicked 
 men, but they were still legally priests. The wick- 
 edness of the people did not alter the fact that God 
 had taken them into covenant with himself. So all 
 who are born in a land where the Gospel is known 
 are bound to be pious in proportion to their advant- 
 ages, but the want of piety does not at once destroy 
 those advantages. As an Englishman does not cease 
 to be an Englishman because he is ungodly, so an 
 Israelite did not cease to be within the Abrahamic 
 covenant because he was ungodly. The Israelite 
 had great privileges in consequence of his birth, as 
 the Englishman has ; and in neither case was the 
 right determined by moral worth. The Israelite 
 had great religious advantages because he was de- 
 scended from Abraham, as the Englishman has great 
 religious advantages because he was born in England. 
 2. Next we observe that the promises of this 
 covenant were of an external character, and did not 
 include salvation, nor renewal of heart, nor the gift 
 of the Holy Spirit. The covenant declared that 
 the children of Israel should be numerous ; that they 
 should possess the land of Canaan ; that their terri- 
 tory should extend from the River of Egypt to the 
 Euphrates ; that if they were obedient, their land 
 should be fertile, they should conquer their enemies 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 151 
 
 and live in safety ; and that if they tvould keep his 
 covenant, they should be his peculiar treasure, a 
 kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. It further 
 provided them with religious ordinances. Under it 
 the Shekinah assured them of the constant presence 
 of God ; he gave them prophets to declare to them 
 his will ; they had the word of God. This was, 
 according ta Paul, their chief distinction. " What 
 advantage, then, hath the Jew ? or what profit is 
 there of circumcision ? Much every way ; chiefly 
 because that unto them were committed the oracles 
 of God," Rom., iii., 1,2. With this Moses com- 
 bined their access to God by prayer : <' For what 
 nation is there so great who hath God so nigh to 
 them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we 
 call upon him for ? And what nation is there so 
 great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous 
 as all this law, which I set before you this day ?" 
 Deut., iv., 7, 8. These things offered them great 
 advantages for moral and spiritual improvement, 
 and if rightly used would have made them a wise 
 and prosperous people ; but nowhere within the cov- 
 enant was there a promise of salvation, of renewal, 
 or of Divine influence upon the heart. Termina- 
 ting in external blessings, it furnished means of grace, 
 but secured no grace. Each prophet warned them 
 of the danger of apostasy, and each generation fur- 
 nished melancholy proof that excellent means of im- 
 provement were thrown away upon a graceless and 
 stubborn people. What single moral advantag 
 had they which is not more amply possessed by En- 
 gland, France, Germany, or any other nation which 
 possesses the Bible ? 
 
152 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 It has been thought that the Abrahamic national 
 covenant included spiritual blessings, because the 
 terms of the promise to Abraham respecting his de- 
 scendants were, " I will be their God" (Gen., xvii., 
 8) ; and God said to them, " I will take you to me 
 for a people, and I will be to you a God" (Exod., 
 vi., 7) ; "I am the Lord thy God" (Exod., xx., 1). 
 Now this is the promise made to the glorified saints 
 of Christ, " God himself shall be with them, and 
 be their God" (Rev,, xxi., 3). But it is obvious 
 that words may have a lower or a loftier sense in 
 different connections. All men are said by Paul to 
 be the offspring of God, because they are created by 
 him (Acts, xvii., 28, 29) ; and the Almighty de- 
 clared of the Jews, " I have nourished and brought 
 up children, and they have rebelled against me" 
 (Isa., i., 2) ; and yet the adoption of believers into 
 the family of God is the eflect of Christ's mission 
 alone. " God sent forth his Son to redeem them 
 that were under the law, that we might receive the 
 adoption of sons" (Gal., iv., 4, 5) ; '• Ye are all the 
 children of God by faith in Christ Jesus," Gal., iii., 
 26 ; see Eph., i., 5. As, then, we may not say 
 that the heathen are the children of God in the 
 same sense that adopted believers are, so neither 
 may we say that God was the God of Israel in the 
 same sense in which he is the God of saints. He 
 was the object of their worship while others wor- 
 shiped idols, and their Almighty protector while 
 others were without the promise of his protection ; 
 but that he made no unconditional promise to par- 
 don, renew, or sanctify them as a nation, is apparent 
 from the following passages among others : 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 163 
 
 " And the children of Israel did evil in the sight 
 of the Lord, and served Baalim. And they forsook 
 the Lord God of their fathers. And the anger of 
 the Lord was hot against Israel. Whithersoevei 
 they Avent out the hand of the Lord was against 
 them for evil," Judges, ii., 11, 12, 14, 15 ; see, also, 
 vi., 10. "And Samuel called the people together 
 . . . and said . . . Ye have this day rejected your 
 God . . . and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set 
 a king over us," 1 Sam., x., 19. "Moreover, all 
 the chief of the priests and the people transgressed 
 very much after all the abominations of the heathen ; 
 . . . they mocked the messengers of God, and. de- 
 spised his words, and misused his prophets, until the 
 wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there 
 was no remedy," 2 Chron., xxxvi., 14, 16. " They 
 tempted and provoked the Most High God. . . . 
 They provoked him to anger with their high places, 
 and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. 
 When God heard he was wroth, and greatly ab- 
 horred Israel," Psalm Ixxviii., 56, 58, 59. "My 
 people would not hearken to my voice ; and Israel 
 would none of me ; so I gave them up unto their 
 own heart's lust," Psalm Ixxxi., 11,12. " Hear, O 
 heavens, and give ear, O earth ; for the Lord hath 
 spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, 
 and they have rebelled against me . . . Ah, sinful 
 nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil- 
 doers, children that are corrupters ; they have for- 
 saken the Lord. . . . Why should ye be stricken any 
 more ? Ye will revolt more and more. Your new 
 moons and your appointed feasts my soul liateth : 
 they are a trouble to me, I am weary to bear them. 
 
154 INFANT UAI'TISAI 
 
 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide 
 mine eyes from you ; yea, when ye make many 
 prayers, I will not hear ; your hands are full of 
 blood," Isa., i., 2, 4, 5, 14, 15. « Go and tell this 
 people. Hear ye indeed, but understand not ; and 
 see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart 
 of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and 
 shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and 
 hear with their ears, and understand with their 
 heart, and convert, and be healed," Isa., vi., 9, 10. 
 "And it shall come to pass, that when they shall 
 be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse 
 their king and their God," Isa., viii., 21. " ] have 
 spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious 
 people. . . . And ye shall leave your name for a 
 curse to my chosen ; for the Lord God shall slay 
 thee, and call his servants by another name," Isaiah, 
 Ixv., 2, 15. " Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, 
 and be horribly afraid ; be ye very desolate, saith 
 the Lord. I'or my people have committed two 
 evils ; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living 
 waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cis- 
 terns, that can hold no water," Jer., ii., 12, 13. 
 •' Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her 
 husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O 
 house of Israel. , . . Thou hast played the harlot 
 with many lovers," Jer., iii., 20, 1. " Shall I not 
 visit for these things ? And shall not my soul be 
 avenged on such a nation as this ?" Jer., v., 9 ; 
 compare 1—8 ; see, also, Hos., iv., 12 ; v., 4 ; ix., 
 1 ; xi., 7 ; Amos, ix., 7, 8. " O Jerusalem, Jeru- 
 salem, thou that kiilest the prophets, and stonest 
 them which are sent unto thee, how often would I 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 155 
 
 have gathered thy children together, even as a hen 
 gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye 
 vi^ould not. Behold, your house is left unto you 
 desolate," Matt., xxiii., 37, 38. " The kingdom of 
 God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation 
 bringing forth the fruits thereof," Matt,, xxi., 43. 
 " They are not all Israel which are of Israel ; neither 
 because they are the seed of Abraham are they all 
 children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called ; 
 that is, they which are the children of the flesh, 
 these are not the cliildren of God ; but the children 
 of the promise are counted for the seed," Rom., ix., 
 6—8. " The Jews both killed the Lord Jesus and 
 their own prophets, and have persecuted us ... to 
 fill up their sins alway ; for the wrath is come upon 
 them to the uttermost," 1 Thess., ii., 15, 16. 
 
 "With these passages in our recollection, we must 
 see that the covenant under which the children of 
 Israel were placed promised them temporal blessings 
 and means of grace, but not grace itself. Under it 
 they could be ignorant and rebellious, turn away from 
 God, forsake his worship, reject him, and curse him ; 
 while he could abhor them, and view them as the 
 objects of his uttermost wrath. The expression, 
 therefore, " I will be your God," could mean na more 
 than that he would be the object of worship in that 
 nation, and their protector, involving no promise of 
 pardon, renewal, or salvation. It was a covenant of 
 external blessings, not a covenant of grace. 
 
 3. The Abrahamic national covenant was condi- 
 tional with respect to the external blessings which 
 alone it secured. Some part of the posterity of 
 Abraham must indeed be numerous, must possess all 
 
156 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 the territory between the River of Egypt and the 
 River Euphrates, and must last for many generations, 
 because all this was promised absolutely ; but we 
 learn from the following passages that the amount 
 and the duration of their blessings were made to 
 depend upon their own obedience : 
 
 " Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, 
 and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar 
 treasure to me above all people ; for all the earth is 
 mine," Exod., xix., 5. " If ye walk in my statutes, 
 and keep my commandments, and do them, then I 
 will give you rain in due season, and ye shall eat 
 your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 
 . . . But if ye will not hearken to me, and will not 
 do all these commandments, I will set my face against 
 you. . . . And if ye will not yet for all this hearken 
 to me, then I will punish you seven times more for 
 your sins. . . . And if ye will not be reformed by me 
 by these things, but will walk contrary to- me, then 
 will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish 
 you yet seven times for your sins. . . . And if ye will 
 not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary 
 unto me, then I will walk contrary to you also in 
 fury ; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times 
 for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your 
 sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. 
 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down 
 your images ; and cast your carcasses upon the car- 
 casses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you," 
 Lev., xxvi., 3-5, 14, 18, 27-30. "Keep, there- 
 fore, the words of this covenant, and do them that 
 ye prosper in all that ye do," Deut., xxix., 9. "Be- 
 hold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse : 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 157 
 
 a blessing if ye obey the commandments of the Lord 
 your God, and a curse if ye will not obey," Deut., 
 xi., 26, 27, 28. " If thou shalt hearken diligently 
 unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and 
 do all his commandments ... all these blessings shall 
 como upon thee. But if thou wilt not hearken to 
 the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his command- 
 ments ... all these curses shall come upon thee," 
 Deut., XXX., 1, 2, 15 ; see 1—68. " And the Lord 
 said unto Moses, This people will go a whoring after 
 the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they 
 go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break 
 my covenant which I have made with them. Then 
 my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, 
 and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face 
 from them, and they shall be devoured, and many 
 evils and troubles shall befall them," Deut., xxxi., 
 16, 17 ; see, also, Joshua, xxiii., 14—16 ; xxiv., 19, 
 20. " The Lord is with you while ye be with him ; 
 and if ye seek him, he will be found of you ; but if 
 ye forsake him, he will forsake you," 2 Chron., xv., 
 2. " If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the 
 good of the land ; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall 
 be devoured of the sword ; for the mouth of the Lord 
 hath spoken it," Isaiah, i., 19, 20. Large blessings 
 might be secured by obedience ; but obedience was 
 not secured by grace ; and disobedience was to be 
 followed by corresponding punishment. 
 
 4. The Abrahamic national covenant being thus 
 conditional, was defectible. All its blessings might 
 be lost by any individual, or by the nation ; and it \ 
 might, upon its conditions being bj'oken, be wholly 
 set aside. Its blessings were lost by multitudes. 
 
158 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 Numb., xiv., 34 ; Heb., iv., 2. God would not hear 
 the prayers of the nation, Isaiah, lix., 2. His soul 
 abhorred them, Lev., xxvi., 28—30. He declared 
 that they should not be his people, Hos., i., 9. He" 
 predicted their rejection, Isaiah, Ixv., 15. Our Lord 
 declared the same, Matt., xxi., 43. Paul also de- 
 clared it, Gal., iv., 21—31, The utmost wrath de- 
 scended upon them, 1 Thess., ii., 16. And the cov- 
 enant itself was done away, Heb., viii., 13 ; ix., 10 ; 
 Jer., xxxi., 31. 
 
 This covenant with the nation was so far from 
 being identical with the covenant of grace, that it is 
 expressly contrasted with it. " Behold, the days 
 come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new cov- 
 enant with the house of Israel, and with the house 
 of Judah ; not according to the covenant that I made 
 with their fathers in the day that I took them by 
 the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, 
 which my covenant they brake," Jer., xxxi., 31, 32. 
 Here the covenant of grace is called a new covenant, 
 which is unlike the former national covenant. Ac- 
 cording to Paul, it is a better covenant, established 
 upon better promises (Heb., viii., 6), which has su- 
 perseded the other. " In that he saith, A new cov- 
 enant, he hath made the first old : now that which 
 decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away," 
 Heb., viii., 13. 
 
 The substance of the new covenant completely 
 illustrates its superiority to the national covenant. 
 
 1 . It is a covenant of spiritual blessings. It con- 
 tains a promise of holiness : "I will put my law in 
 their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." It 
 promises adoption : "I will be their God, and they 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 15^9 
 
 'shall be my people ;" " Thou shalt call me, My fa- 
 ther," Jer., iii., 19. It promises knowledge : " They 
 shall all know me, from the least of them nnto the 
 greatest of them" (Jer., xxxi., 34); "My people 
 shall know my name" (Isa., Iii,, 6) ; "All thy chil- 
 dren shall be taught of the Lord," Isa., liv., 13. It 
 promises pardon : "I will forgive their iniquity, and 
 I will remember their sin no more" (Jer., xxxi., 34) ; 
 " In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise 
 thee ; though thou wast angry with me, thine an- 
 ger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me," Isa., 
 xii., 1. It promises perseverance : "Thou shalt call 
 me. My father, and shalt not turn away from me" 
 (Jer,, iii., 19) ; "I will betroth thee unto me for- 
 ever" (Hos., ii., 19) ; "I will give them one heart 
 and one way, that they may fear me forever. . . . 
 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them 
 that I will not turn away from them to do them 
 good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that 
 they shall not depart from me," Jer., xxxii., 40. 
 Lastly, it promises the Holy Spirit : "I will pour 
 out my Spirit upon all flesh" (Joel, ii., 28) ; " A 
 new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will 
 I put within you ; and I will take away the stony 
 heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart 
 of flesh ; and I will put my spirit within you, and 
 cause you to walk in my statutes," Ezek., xxxvi., 
 26, 27. 
 
 2. The covenant of grace is absolute, uncondi- 
 tional, and eflectual. Let us recall its terms : 
 " They shall all know me ;" "I will forgive their 
 iniquity ;" "I will write my law in their hearts ;" 
 *' I will be thoir God :" "A new heart will I irive 
 
160 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 you ;" "I will cause you to walk in my statutes ;" 
 " Thou shalt call me, My father, and shalt not turn 
 away from me," Jer., xxxi., 33, 34 ; Ezek., xxxvi., 
 25 ; Jer., iii., 19 ; see, also, Isa., xii., 1,2; Joel, ii., 
 28. "In the covenant of works God promised life 
 to man on condition of perfect obedience, but he did 
 not promise to produce or effect this obedience in 
 man. In the covenant of grace he not only prom- 
 ises life eternal, but also, at the same time, faith, 
 and repentance, and perseverance in holiness, ■w'itli- 
 out which Hfe can not be attained, and which being 
 granted, life can not but be attained. It does not 
 depend on any imcertain condition, but is founded 
 on the suretyship and actual satisfaction of Christ ; 
 does infallibly secure salvation to the believer ; and 
 as certainly promise faith to the elect . . . Whatever 
 can be conceived as a condition, is all included in 
 the universality of the promises. Should God only 
 promise eternal hfe, there might be some pretense 
 for saying that repentance, faith, and the like, were 
 the conditions of this covenant. But seeing God 
 does ratify both the beginning, progress, uninterrupt- 
 ed continuance, and the consummation of the new 
 life, nothing remains in this universahty of the prom- 
 ises which can be looked upon as the condition of 
 the whole covenant." — Witsius, 372, 374. 
 
 3. The covenant of grace is sure and eternal. 
 Recall its promises : " Incline your ear, and come 
 unto me ; hear, and your soul shall hve ; and I 
 will make an everlasting covenant with you, even 
 the sure mercies of David," Isa., Iv., 3. "I will 
 make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will 
 not turn away from them, to do them good ; but I 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUiMCISION. 161 
 
 will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not 
 depart from me," Jer., xxxii., 40. " We know that 
 all things work together for good to them that love 
 God, to them who are the called according to his 
 purpose ; for whom he did foreknow, he also did 
 predestinate to be conformed to the image of his 
 Son, that he might be the first-born among many 
 brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, 
 them he also called ; and whom he called, them he 
 also justified ; and whom he justified, them he also 
 glorified," Rom., viii., 28—30. "Blessed be the 
 God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 
 blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly 
 places in Christ : according as he hath chosen us in 
 him before the foundation of the world, that we should 
 be holy and without blame before him in love : hav- 
 ing predestinated us unto the adoption of children by 
 Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleas- 
 ure of his will ... In whom also we have obtained 
 an inheritance, being predestinated according to the 
 purpose of him who worketh all things after the 
 counsel of his own will," Eph., i., 3—5, 11; see 
 Jer., iii., 19; xxxi., 31; Hos., ii., 19; John, x., 
 28 ; xiv., 16 ; Heb., xiii., 10 ; 1 Pet., i., 1-5. 
 
 4. The covenant of grace is made with the elect, 
 and with no others. 1. It is made with elect be- 
 lievers of the Jewish nation. " Behold, the days 
 come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new cove- 
 nant with the house of Israel, and with the house of 
 Judah," Jer., xxx., 31 ; see Jer., iii., 19 ; Isa., xii., 
 1, 2; lix., 20, 21 ; Jer., xxxii., 37-40; Ezek., 
 xxxvi., 24-27. By these passages is intended the 
 elect portion of Israel : " For they are not all Israel 
 
 L 
 
162 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed 
 of Abraham are they all children ; but, In Isaac shall 
 thy seed be called (Gen., xxi., 12); that is, they 
 which are the children of the flesh, these are not the 
 children of God, but the children of the promise are 
 counted for the seed," Rom., ix., 6-8. " I say then, 
 Hath God cast away his people ? God hath not cast 
 away his people which he foreknew. There is a 
 remnant according to the election of grace. "What 
 then ? Israel hath not obtained that which he seek- 
 eth for ; but the election hath obtained it, and the 
 rest were blinded," Rom., xi., 2, 5, 7 ; see, also, 
 26—28. 2. It is made with the elect of every na- 
 tion. " Thou shalt break forth on the right hand 
 and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gen- 
 tiles," Isa., liv., 3. " Behold, thou shalt call a na- 
 tion that thou knowest not, and nations that knew 
 not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy 
 God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath 
 glorified thee," Isa., Iv., 5. " Know ye, therefore, 
 that they which are of faith, the same are the chil- 
 dren of Abraham. If ye be Christ's, then are ye 
 Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise," 
 Gal., iii., 7, 29. " For by one offering he hath per- 
 fected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof 
 the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us ; for after that 
 he had said before, This is the covenant that I will 
 make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I 
 will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds 
 will I write them ; and their sins and iniquities will 
 I remember no more," Heb., x., 14-17. " Now, 
 therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, 
 but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the house- 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 163 
 
 hold of God," Eph., ii., 19 ; see, also, Isa,, xlii., 1—6 ; 
 xlix., 8 ; with 2 Cor., vi., 1,2; Rom., ix., 22-26 ; 
 Gal., iv., 25-31 ; Eph., ii., 11-19. 
 
 ** The contracting parties are on the one part God, 
 on the other the elect. . . . Here men are considered 
 as chosen hy God to grace and glory, according to 
 his most absolute good pleasure, and so appointed 
 heirs of eternal life, Luke, xii., 32." — Witsius, i., 
 369, 370. 
 
 " Two things are to be considered : 1st. The cov- 
 enant between God the Father and Christ the Me- 
 diator ; 2dly. That testamentary disposition by which 
 God bestows, by an immutable covenant, eternal 
 salvation and every thing relative thereto upon the 
 elect. The former agreement is between God and 
 the Mediator, the latter between God and the elect." 
 — Witsius, i., 210. 
 
 " The Father is held forth as the principal author 
 of it, 2 Cor., v., 19 ; Rom., viii., 17. The Son is 
 mediator and executor of the covenant ; the Spirit 
 brings the elect to Christ, and in Christ to the pos- 
 session of the benefits of the covenant. . . . Salvation 
 itself, and every thing belonging to it or inseparably 
 connected with it, are promised in this covenant ; all 
 which none but the elect can attain to." — Ibid., 370. 
 
 Rightly, then, does the Apostle Paul say that the 
 covenant of grace is better than the legal national 
 covenant, Heb., viii., 6. The national covenant 
 promised external blessings, the covenant of grace 
 all spiritual blessings in Christ ; the one was condi- 
 tional, the other was absolute ; the one was defect- 
 ive, and has been done away, the other is sure and 
 eternal ; the one was made with all sorts of charac- 
 
164 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 ters, the other is made with the elect people of God ; 
 the one was confined to the limits of a particular na- 
 tion, the other is the charter of the children of God 
 throughout the world. 
 
 III. Tlie Difference betiveen Circumcision and 
 Baptism. — When God entered into covenant with 
 Abraham on behalf of his children, he required them 
 to be circumcised ; and since infants were circum- 
 cised by divine command, it is argued that infants 
 ought to be baptized. Since infants were required 
 to receive the initiatory rite of the first covenant, they 
 may also receive the initiatory rite of the second. 
 
 But this conclusion manifestly rests upon the as- 
 sumed similarity of the two rites, whereas circum- 
 cision differs from baptism in all its principal feat- 
 ures : 1 . they were appointed for different persons ; 
 2. they had diflerent significations ; 3. they intro- 
 duced into different societies ; and, 4. they were at- 
 tended by different consequences. The differences 
 in the two ordinances were as great as those in the 
 religious systems to which they were introductory. 
 
 1. Circumcision was appointed for unregenerate 
 as well as for regenerate adults, baptism for the re- 
 generate alone ; whence it follows that unregenerate 
 infants might be circumcised, but unregenerate in- 
 fants may not be baptized. God appointed circum- 
 cision at the same time that he entered into cove- 
 nant with Abraham ; every male in his house was 
 to be circumcised, the servants being included. Gen., 
 xvii., 10—14. The whole nation was thus to be cir- 
 cumcised through successive generations, Gen., xvii., 
 9, 10, 12. All servants were to be included in suc- 
 cessive ages (Gen., xvii., 13 ; Exod., xii., 44) ; and 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 165 
 
 all foreigners, with all their children, and servants 
 who were living in the country, were also to be ad- 
 mitted to it, Exod., xii., 48, 49. 
 
 Thus circumcision was appointed for all the de- 
 scendants of Jacob, and for their dependants, and for 
 the foreigners who lived among them, without refer- 
 ence to character or previous instruction. According 
 to God's commandment, all Abraham's servants were 
 circumcised the very day that he received the com- 
 mand. "And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and 
 all that were born in his house, and all that were 
 bought with his money, every male among the men 
 of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of 
 their foreskin, in the self-same day as God had said 
 unto him," Gen., xvii., 23, 26, 27. No previous 
 instruction was ordained, no profession required, no 
 examination instituted, no delay allowed. About 
 six hundred men and boys received that day the to- 
 ken of the national covenant. Gen., xiv., 14, After 
 this time, any persons who professed a wish to be con- 
 nected with the favored family, and would submit to 
 its laws, though they were without piety or knowl- 
 edge, might, apparently, without profanation, receive 
 this rite. When the sons of Jacob required of the 
 subjects of Shechem, a Hivite prince, that they should 
 be at once circumcised, as the only condition on which 
 they would enter into any alliance with them, and 
 these heathens consented upon commercial consider- 
 ations, Jacob, who must have known the transaction, 
 did not forbid it as a desecration of the ordinance"; 
 and they at once received it, just as the heathen serv- 
 ants of Abraham had previously received it (Gen., 
 xxxiv., 24). An equally indiscriminate administra- 
 
166 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 tion of the rite took place long after, when the nation 
 had crossed the Jordan, and were about to enter on 
 the conquest of Canaan. Some hundreds of thou- 
 sands of men, including, doubtless, persons of every 
 degree of irreligion and ignorance, with all their chil- 
 dren, were ordered by the Almighty to be circumcised 
 before they commenced their campaign. Josh., v., 2. 
 No person can reasonably suppose that all those who 
 received circumcision were regenerate persons, or 
 seemed to be so. Some have said that Abraham's 
 servants were pious, because the Lord said, " I know 
 him, that he will command his children and his house- 
 hold after him, and they shall keep the way of the 
 Lord," Gen., xviii., 19. To suppose that three hund- 
 red and eighteen men-servants, capable of bearing 
 arms, with all their boys, living in a barbarous age 
 among idolaters, without the Bible or other books, 
 were all pious, is to suppose such a miracle as the 
 world has never seen ; but if they were so, the case 
 is not altered. All the children and servants of 
 Isaac and of Jacob were not, surely, pious ; all the 
 subjects of Shechem were not at once converted ; all 
 the nations on the banks of the Jordan, with all their 
 servants, were not so ; still less were all the success- 
 ive millions of Israelites, with their slaves and the 
 foreigners who lived among them, and all the chil- 
 dren of all these, converted to God, since, on the con- 
 trary, they were cast away for their obstinate ungod- 
 liness. And yet all these received circumcision by 
 the express command of God. Circumcision, then, 
 was appointed for all the descendants of Jacob, as 
 such, with their servants and children ; and for all 
 foreigners, with their children, dwelling among them, 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 167 
 
 without respect to character. Ignorant as well as 
 instructed, good or bad, godly or ungodly, all were 
 to be circumcised. 
 
 But baptism was appointed by our Lord to be 
 administered with respect to adult believers alone, 
 Matt., xxviii., 19 ; Mark, xvi., 16 ; Acts, ii., 38. 
 Since, therefore, faith was required in, the adult who 
 sought to be baptized, but those who had no faith 
 were ordered to be circumcised, it follows that the 
 two rites were different in their character, and that 
 those might be properly circumcised who could not 
 lawfully be baptized. As, then, an unregenerate 
 adult might be circumcised, an unregenerate infant 
 might receive circumcision ; but as an unregenerate 
 adult might not be baptized, an unregenerate infant 
 ought not to receive baptism. As repentance and 
 faith are not necessary qualifications for the Jewish 
 rite with reference to adults, the infant, like the 
 adult, might receive it without them ; but as they 
 are necessary qualifications for the Christian rite 
 with reference to adults, the infant, like the adult, 
 must not receive it without them. 
 
 If there be such an analogy between circumcision 
 and baptism that infants may be baptized because 
 infants were circumcised, the analogy must extend 
 to every class. Baptism being the substitute for 
 circumcision, and administered on the same condi- 
 tions, if any one class has a right to baptism because 
 it had a right to circumcision, then all classes have 
 a right to baptism which had a right to circumcision. 
 Since infants have a right to baptism because Jewish 
 infants were circumcised, then unregenerate adults, 
 servants of Christians or heathens living with them, 
 
168 INFANT BAPTISMs 
 
 with all their children, have a right to baptism, be- 
 cause all these classes had a right to circumcision. 
 Persons of every character and their children may be 
 baptized, because persons of every character with 
 their children were circumcised. But this is mani- 
 festly false, since adults must not be baptized except 
 on a credible profession of repentance and faith. The 
 analogy, therefore, is false ; and as ungodly adults 
 may not be baptized because ungodly adults were 
 circumcised, so infants may not receive the Christian 
 rite because infants received the Jewish rite. 
 
 It is, however, further argued, that as piety en- 
 titles an adult to baptism, and infants may be re- 
 generated by the Spirit of God, the contrary to which 
 we can not know, they are also entitled to baptism. 
 But this seems to me strange reasoning. Baptism 
 being appointed for believers, an adult should be ad- 
 mitted to baptism as soon as the evidences of his 
 faith become apparent : so, then, because an adult 
 may be baptized upon a credible profession of faith, 
 we are to baptize infants when such a profession is 
 impossible. You may not baptize an adult till you 
 have reason to believe that he is regenerate ; why, 
 then, do you baptize an infant when you have no 
 evidence whatever that he is so ? Infants are born 
 with a corrupt nature; facts prove that even the 
 children of believers often remain unregenerate ; and 
 unregenerate infants are no more suitable subjects of 
 baptism than unregenerate adults. And since in- 
 fants are not capable of affording proof that they are 
 regenerate, they must be treated as unregenerate. 
 If infants are to be baptized because some among 
 them may^ possibly be regenerate, then a crowd of 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISfON. 1(19 
 
 Hindoos or Chinamen listening to a missionary in 
 Calcutta or Hong Kong ought likewise to be bap- 
 tized because some among them may also be regen- 
 erate. But if this conclusion is false with respect to 
 a crowd of adults, it is equally false with reference 
 to a crowd of infants. Since faith is the revealed 
 condition of baptism, no persons should receive it till 
 they afford proof that the condition is fulfilled ; and 
 as no infant can afford that proof, no infant should 
 be baptized. 
 
 Further, baptism in the New Testament was the 
 voluntary act of those who were baptized ; but cir- 
 cumcision was a law which the persons designated 
 could not without punishment neglect. " The con- 
 sent either of Abraham or of his family was not 
 asked. The compliance of some of them, to wit, 
 such as were infants, was impossible. That of many 
 others in his household was probably never yielded, 
 either knowingly or voluntarily. Yet upon all these 
 was the seal placed by the divine command, under a 
 penalty for omitting it, no less than excision. In 
 the same manner was it placed upon the whole na- 
 tion of Israel, and upon all the strangers who were 
 within their gates." — Dwight, v., 330. 
 
 As, then, circumcision was forced by a terrible 
 penalty on the adult, it might be given to the un- 
 conscious infant ; but as baptism was always the 
 voluntary act of the adult, it ought not to be given 
 to art unconscious infant who can not assent to it. 
 
 Further, it has been argued, that if infants may 
 not be baptized because faith is necessary to bap- 
 tism, infants can not be saved because faith is neces- 
 sary to salvation. But the cases are not parallel. 
 
170 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 Infants can be saved without faith, because God can 
 give them regeneration, which is equivalent to faith ; 
 but they are unfit for baptism, because baptism is a 
 profession of faith, and they are capable neither of 
 making a profession of faith, nor of any thing which 
 is equivalent to it. It is a fallacy to infer what 
 man, who is ignorant, may do, from what God may 
 do who is omniscient. He can give an infant salva- 
 tion, because he sees in the infant all that prepares 
 a believer for salvation ; but man may not give an 
 infant baptism, because he can not see in the infant 
 the grace which fits a believer for baptism. As in- 
 fants are generally unregenerate, and we can never 
 know what cases are exceptions, unregenerate infants 
 ought not to be injured by being baptized as regen- 
 erate. Salvation depends upon faith in the adult, 
 and on regeneration, which is equivalent to faith in 
 the infant ; and as infants are capable of regenera- 
 tion, they may be saved. But baptism depends 
 upon the manifestation of faith or of regeneration ; 
 and as infants are incapable of this manifestation, 
 they may not be baptized. 
 
 2. The circumcision of infants under the law af- 
 fords no warrant for the baptism of infants in the 
 Christian Church, because the signification of cir- 
 cumcision is difierent from the signification of bap- 
 tism. Circumcision, being enjoined upon all chil- 
 dren and servants in the Jewish nation, could not 
 imply either a profession of faith or a knowledge of 
 truth ; it was, therefore, simply a token of the cove- 
 nant unto which God had entered with them. These 
 are the words of the Almighty : " This is my cove- 
 nant, which ye shall keep between me and you, and 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 171 
 
 thy seed after thee. Every male (niT '?D) among 
 you shall be circumcised . . . and it shall be a to- 
 ken of the covenant between me and you," Gen., 
 xvii., 10, 11.^ As circumcision was intended to 
 signify the circumcision of the heart, the renuncia- 
 tion of all sin (Rom., ii., 28, 29 ; Col., ii., 11 ; 
 Deut., X., 16 ; xxx., 6), it was enjoined upon chil- 
 dren and servants to show that God required this 
 renunciation of sin by all the covenanted people. It 
 was the token that they must be a holy people to 
 obtain his blessing (Deut., vii., 6 ; xiv., 2, 21 ; xxvi., 
 1 9 ; xxviii., 9) ; but it involved no profession of piety, 
 and was no sign of existing religious character. With 
 respect to Abraham, indeed, Paul has said, " He re- 
 ceived the sign of circumcision, a seal of the right- 
 eousness of the faith which he had, yet being uncir- 
 cumcised," Rom., iv,, 11. But this statement was 
 made by the apostle with reference to Abraham 
 alone, and certainly did not describe the force and 
 effect of circumcision with respect to his posterity 
 generally. When Abraham was seventy-five years 
 old, he left Haran by faith, Heb., xi. He was, 
 therefore, justified by faith then. Ten years later 
 in his life the Almighty said to him, " Look now 
 toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to 
 number them : so shall thy seed be. . . . And he 
 believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for 
 righteousness," Gen., xv., 6. When, therefore, God 
 enjoined the rite of circumcision, he had been many 
 years a justified believer ; see Gen., xvii., 1,2, How, 
 then, was faith reckoned to him for righteousness ? 
 
 * 13T does not mean a child, but simply a male. See verse 
 23. Also, i., 27 ; vi., 19 ; xxxiv., 15 ; Exod., xii., 5, &c. 
 
172 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 <' Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision ; and 
 he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the 
 righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being 
 uncircumcised," E.om., iv., 10, 11. God renewed 
 his covenant with him because he was a believer; 
 and the token of the covenant was the seal or mark 
 that he was accepted as such. But this was obvi- 
 ously untrue of the majority of those who were or- 
 dered to receive the token of the national covenant. 
 Neither to the infants, nor to the servants of the 
 Jewish nation generally, was circumcision " a seal 
 of the righteousness of the faith which they had, yet 
 being uncircumcised," for neither the infants, nor 
 the servants generally, could be looked upon as jus- 
 tified believers before their circumcision ; but to them 
 it was simply what God declared it to be, a token 
 of the covenant into which God had entered with 
 them, Gen., xvii., 11. 
 
 " We admit," says Mr. Wilson, "that circumcis- 
 ion was not a seal of personal righteousness to any 
 except Abraham." — P. 399. 
 
 "It is perfectly plain that Abraham's family 
 were not all believers in the evangelical sense, nor 
 indeed in any sense, at the time when this seal was 
 affixed to them, for some of them were infants. It 
 is equally plain that the great body of his descend- 
 ants were also not believers when they were circum- 
 cised, they, too, being almost all mfants. The con- 
 clusion is, therefore, irresistible, that circumcision 
 was not and could not be intended to be a seal set 
 by God upon the actually existing evangeHcal faith 
 of those who were circumcised, because a part of 
 those who were first circumcised by the immediate 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 173 
 
 command of God, and almost all those who were 
 circumcised afterward, were, at the time of their cir- 
 cumcision, unpossessed and incapable of this faith." 
 — Dwight, v., 331. 
 
 Neithel^ infant nor servant received circumcision 
 in virtue of their piety nor of the piety of their par- 
 ents, but simply as Israelites or servants of Israel- 
 ites. The covenant with Abraham and his sons 
 was similar to the covenant made by the Almighty 
 earlier with Noah and his sons. Circumcision, the 
 token of the Abrahamic covenant, was similar to 
 the rainbow, which was the token of the covenant 
 with Noah (Gen., ix., 8, 9, 12, 13); and as the 
 rainbow, though the token of God's covenant, impli- 
 ed no profession of religion in the sons of Noah and 
 their children, so circumcision, though the token of 
 the Abrahamic covenant, implied no profession in 
 the sons of Abraham and their children. The rite 
 involved no profession of piety in any one, but was 
 simply a token of the covenant into which God had 
 entered with them. All these infants and servants 
 of Israel were within the covenant before they re- 
 ceived its token. Parents might be ignorant or 
 wicked, but that did not affect the claim of their 
 children. The son of Shimei had the same right 
 as the son of David to the token of the covenant ; 
 the son of Manasseh no less than the son of Josiah. 
 Neither children nor servants made any promises, 
 but they had a right to the token of the covenant, 
 because they were already within the covenant by 
 birth or position. But baptism, as we have seen, 
 involves a profession of faith, so that it could be said 
 of all those rightly baptized that they were buried 
 
174 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 with Christ, and with him rose to a new life through 
 faith, Rom., vi., 3, 4 ; Col., ii., 12. 
 
 The circumcision, therefore, of the adult servant, 
 involved neither knowledge nor profession ; the bap- 
 tism of the adult convert involves both. The cir- 
 cumcision of the servant was a token of the repent- 
 ance and service which God demanded of him ; the 
 baptism of the adult convert is a seal of the right- 
 eousness of faith which he had, being yet unbaptized. 
 One was the act of a person doomed to excision if he 
 disregarded it ; the other is a free act of faith and 
 love. This being the difference between the two 
 rites wdth respect to adults, we may see that infants 
 might receive the one, but may not receive the oth- 
 er. If the ignorant and unregenerate adult was 
 obliged to receive the token of the national cove- 
 nant, the unconscious and unregenerate infant might 
 receive it ; but since the ignorant and unregenerate 
 adult may not receive baptism, the unconscious and 
 unregenerate infant ought not to receive it. Since 
 the servant, who professed nothing, received circum- 
 cision, the child also, who professed nothing, might 
 receive it ; but since the adult may not be baptized 
 without professing repentance and faith, the child, 
 who can not make that profession, may not be bap- 
 tized. 
 
 3. We may further learn that the circumcision 
 of infants Was not meant to sanction the baptism of 
 infants, from the difference in the two communities to 
 which these two rites admit those who receive them. 
 
 Circumcision was the rite by which the circum- 
 cised person entered into the possession of the rights 
 and privileges of a Jewish citizen, while others could 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIIIOUMCISION. 175 
 
 have very little intercourse with the chosen people. 
 The Jews reckoned it "an unlawful thing for a man 
 that was a Jew to keep company, or come unto one 
 of another nation," Acts, x., 28, He who received 
 circumcision might associate with them freely, re- 
 ceive the Passover, offer the sacrifice of the law, as- 
 sist in all their festivals, and generally become en- 
 titled to all the privileges of the national covenant. 
 But to become a citizen of that nation required no 
 more spirituality than to become a citizen of En- 
 gland. As an Englishman is bound by his oppor- 
 tunities of knowledge and improvement to serve God, 
 so an Israelite was bound to serve him ; but as a 
 man does not cease to be an Englishman because he 
 is irreligious, so neither did a descendant of Abraham, 
 or a circumcised servant, cease to be a citizen of the 
 favored nation on that account. Notwithstanding 
 their advantages, the nation was corrupt and per- 
 verse from the beginning. A large part of those 
 who were rescued from Egypt perished in their un- 
 belief. Century after century, resisting all warn- 
 ings, they continued to worship idols, till they were 
 driven into captivity for their sins. When they 
 were restored from Babylon, it was only to renew 
 the proofs of their incurable ungodliness, till they 
 consummated their rebellion against God by reject- 
 ing the Lord Jesus Christ, and were cast ofT. Cora- 
 pared with the Church of Christ, they are like Ha- 
 gar the bond- woman compared with Sarah the free- 
 woman. While the Israelite is, like Ishmael, a bond- 
 servant to be cast out, the believer is, like Isaac, the 
 son of promise, a joint-heir with Christ, Gal., iv., 
 25-31. Instead of being the Church of God, as 
 
176 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 some have thought, the Jewish people are often in 
 Scripture termed "the world," John, i., 10 ; iii., 19 ; 
 viL, 7; viii., 23; xv., 18, 19; xvi., 20; xvii., 14. 
 In the days of the apostles they continued to fill up 
 the measure of their sins till the wrath of God fell 
 upon them (1 Thess., ii., 16), and they have long 
 since been cast off (Gal., iv., 30 , Matt., xxi., 43), 
 never again to share in the privileges of the people 
 of God except by coming, as the heathen also may 
 come, into the Church of Christ by faith, Rom., xi., 
 23-26. 
 
 But baptism admits to communion with the 
 Church of God. That Church is composed of the 
 children of God (Heb., xii., 23), is Christ's body 
 (Eph., i., 22, 23), the temple of the Holy Ghost 
 (Eph., ii., 21, 22), the household of God, Eph., ii., 
 19. Each particular Church of Christ, if faithful, 
 is to a great extent a part of the universal Church ; 
 its members are generally saints and faithful breth- 
 ren, Rom., i., 1 ; 1 Cor., i., 2 ; Eph., i., 1 ; Phil., 
 i., 1 ; Col., i., 2. All who are not saints and faith- 
 ful brethren are false to their own profession ; false 
 brethren come in privily (Gal., ii., 4), creep in una- 
 wares (Jude, 2), and to be put out as soon as known, 
 1 Cor., v., 11, 13 ; 2 Cor., vi., 14-18 ; Gal., v., 
 12 ; 2 Thess., iii., 6, 14. All the members of 
 eat'h Church are saints by profession, and ought to 
 be so in reality. 
 
 Hence, when a person was admitted by circum- 
 cision to communion with the corrupt nation, that 
 transaction was according to the divine law ; but 
 when a person is admitted by baptism into a corrupt 
 church, the transaction is against the divine law. 
 
NUT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCiaiON. 177 
 
 It may be objected, that as the members of a 
 church ought to be saints, so ought the members of 
 the Jewish nation to have been ; and the corruption 
 of the nation then was as much contrary to the will 
 of God as the corruption of a church now. But the 
 question before us is not the duty of individuals, but 
 the difference between the nation and the Church, 
 viewed as communities owned by God, into which 
 persons were to be introduced, according to the di- 
 vine law, by circumcision and by baptism. When 
 the nation became corrupt, it remained still the cov- 
 enanted nation, because it was composed of the de- 
 scendants of Abraham, and it was owned by God as 
 such. Still, therefore, in the most corrupt times, 
 were infants and servants to be introduced into it by 
 circumcision. But when a church becomes corrupt, 
 it is no longer ovv^ned by Christ, and his saints are 
 to shun it. According to the will of God, therefore, 
 during the continuance of the national covenant, per- 
 sons were to be introduced into communion with the 
 Jewish nation by circumcision, when God laiew that 
 it would be generally corrupt. But, according to 
 his will, persons are to be introduced by baptism into 
 communion with churches only when they are sound 
 and faithful, when they are generally composed of 
 saints and faithful brethren ; and, further, baptism 
 gives, by Christ's appointment, to each baptized per- 
 son, the right of fellowship with all the purest church- 
 es throughout the world, the right of communion with 
 all saints. 
 
 The qualifications, then, for admission to the one 
 community must be very different from those required 
 for admission to the other. For admission to citizen- 
 
 M 
 
178 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 ship among the Jews, it was enough to be a descend- 
 ant of Abraham, or a slave of his descendant. For 
 admission to the communion of saints, it was neces- 
 sary to profess to be — and, since false profession is 
 odious to the Almighty, it is necessary to be — a pen- 
 itent believer, a saint, a child of God. To the one 
 community all conformists might be admitted by cir- 
 cumcision ; to the other, all penitent beUevers may 
 be admitted by baptism. Since infants might be 
 conformists, they might be Jewish citizens by circum- 
 cision ; but since they can not be known to be pen- 
 itent believers, they must not be admitted to the 
 communion of saints by baptism. The difference in 
 the two communities marks the difference in their 
 respective members. Each must admit members 
 suitable to itself, and no others, lest it should be de- 
 teriorated. A person might be fitted for admission 
 into the one, and not fitted for admission into the 
 other. And this was the case with infants. The 
 nation of Israel was as distinct from the Church of 
 Christ as an infant school is distinct from the House 
 of Commons. And we may no more argue that an 
 infant is fitted for admission into an association of 
 Christian believers because he was fitted for an as- 
 sociation of Jewish citizens, than we may argue that 
 he is fitted to become a member of Parliament be- 
 cause he is fitted to be member of a class in an in- 
 fant school. Any infant might become a Jewish 
 citizen ; a child of God alone can become a mem- 
 ber of his Church ; and the divine appointment of 
 infant circumcision can afford no sanction for the 
 baptism of infants. 
 
 4. The circumcision of infants aflbrds no sanction 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 179 
 
 for the baptism of infants, because of the different 
 effects which are said in Scripture to flow from these 
 two ordinances. 
 
 Circumcision, being the initiatory rite which in- 
 troduced to the external privileges of the Abrahamic 
 national covenant, was a token of the covenant, i. e., 
 a sign that God required repentance and piety in 
 those whom he promised to bless. But, when right- 
 ly received, it secured neither salvation, nor grace, 
 nor pardon, nor any spiritual blessing beyond those 
 which were external. It gave great privileges and 
 blessings of an external kind, but nothing beyond. 
 ** What advantage, then, hath the Jew, or what 
 profit is there of circumcision ? Much every way : 
 chiefly because tJuit imto them %vere committed the 
 oracles of God,'' Rom., iii., 1, 2. The chief bless- 
 ing afforded by the national covenant being the pos- 
 session of the oracles of God, it still left the Israel- 
 ites in bondage, slaves rather than children of God 
 (Gal., iv., 3, 25); it did not exempt from the curse 
 of the law (Gal., iii., 10); it did not save from ju- 
 dicial obduracy (John, xii., 39, 40 ; Isa., vi., 9, 10); 
 it ended to many, who misused its privileges, in de- 
 struction. Gal., iv., 30; Lev., xxvi., 14, &c. 
 
 Baptism, on the other hand, when rightly receiv- 
 ed, being the true profession of a death unto sin, and 
 a new life of faith and devotedness to God through 
 Christ by the Spirit, was the bath of regeneration 
 (Titus, iii., 5), was accompanied by the remission of 
 sins (Acts, ii., 38 ; xxii., 16), M^as the act of putting 
 on the righteousness of Christ (Gal., iv., 27), and 
 ended in salvation, 1 Pet., iii., 21 ; Mark, xvi., 16. 
 The qualification for rites with effects so different 
 
180 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 could not be the same. It is seen at once to be 
 most improbable that the rite sealing the external 
 privileges of the law should be administered on the 
 same terms with the rite sealing the spiritual and 
 eternal blessings of the Gospel. It is exceedingly 
 improbable that there should be the same required 
 qualifications for blessings so exceedingly diverse. 
 Can we think that nothing more should be asked to 
 put a man into the position of a royal prince (1 Pet., 
 ii., 9) than is asked to put him into the position of 
 a bond-servant ? Gal., iv., 7, 25. But more is ask- 
 ed. To be put in possession of the external bless- 
 ings of the national covenant, it was enough that a 
 man was the bond-slave of a descendant of Abra- 
 ham ; to be put into possession of the spiritual and 
 eternal blessings of the new covenant, a .man must 
 be a penitent believer. Circumcision expressed that 
 a man was a slave in the nation of Israel ; baptism 
 expresses that a man is a believer in Christ. To 
 be admitted to circumcision, a man must prove his 
 servitude ; to be admitted to baptism, a man must 
 prove his faith. Hence it follows that infants were 
 capable of the one rite and are incapable of the other. 
 Like the slaves of Israel, they could be placed un- 
 der the instructions provided by the law ; but, un- 
 like penitent believers, they are incapable of receiv- 
 ing the truths of the Gospel. And the divine ap- 
 pointment of circumcision for infants, whereby they 
 were placed under the Mosaic discipline, is no sanc- 
 tion for the baptism of infants, whereby they would 
 be recognized as members of Christ, children of God, 
 and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 The foregoing remarks show how impossible it is 
 
NOT WAHRANTED HY ( IRCUMCISION. 181 
 
 to argue for the divine appointment of infant baptism 
 from the divine appointment of infant circumcision. 
 The two rites are so distinct, that persons who are 
 fitted to receive the one are utterly unfitted to re- 
 ceive the other. Designed for different classes, bear- 
 ing different significations, admitting to different 
 communities, and attended with different results, the 
 first might properly admit those who were excluded 
 by the second, and the second properly exclude those 
 who were admitted by the first. Circumcision was 
 enjoined upon all the descendants of Jacob, and their 
 servants, whether they were godly or ungodly ; bap- 
 tism was offered to no adults except regenerate be- 
 lievers. Circumcision involved no profession of faith, 
 and all the servants of Israelites were obliged to re- 
 ceive it upon pain of excision ; baptism expressed 
 the faith of the baptized person, and was his volun- 
 tary act. Circumcision admitted to the privileges 
 of a favored but corrupt community w^hich was about 
 to be cast away ; baptism admitted to the commun- 
 ion of saints. Circumcision introduced to external 
 means of improvement, as festivals, sacrifices, and 
 communion with the chosen nation ; baptism was 
 the seal of pardon, regeneration, and salvation. 
 
 Every reader can see at once that unregenerate 
 infants might be circumcised, because capable, as- 
 well as unregenerate adults, of conformity to the 
 law ; but unregenerate infants should not be bap- 
 tized, because they are utterly excluded, so long as 
 they remain unregenerate, from all the privileges 
 and blessings of the Gospel. Circumcision accom- 
 plished for the unregenerate infant all that it was 
 intended to accomplish : but baptism accomplishes 
 
182 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 Ibr the unregenerate infant absolutely nothing. The 
 circumcision of the unregenerate infant was a bless- 
 ing to him, because it introduced him to a moral 
 and religious training ; but the baptism of the unre- 
 generate infant is a mischief to it, because, while it 
 adds nothing to his means of instruction, it deludes 
 him with the mockery of a pretended adoption into 
 the family of God, which may hinder him from seek- 
 ing a real adoption. 
 
 The Unlaivfulness of Infant Baptism proved from 
 the Analogy between Circumchion and Bap- 
 tism . 
 
 Further, while the dissimilarity between circum- 
 cision and baptism shows that the administration of 
 the one to infants does not justify the administration 
 of the other to them, the same thing is proved by 
 the real analogy between these rites. As both are 
 initiatory rites of religious systems, and both are 
 tokens of divine covenants, so both are ordered to 
 be applied to those who are previously within the 
 covenants. All those who were admitted to circum- 
 cision were first within the covenant of which it was 
 the appointed seal. As God made a covenant with 
 the descendants of Jacob, with their children and 
 slaves, irrespective of religious character, he ordered 
 them to receive the token of his covenant ; and as he 
 has made a new covenant with all believers, he has 
 ordered them also to receive the token of the cove- 
 nant. No one was permitted to receive the token 
 of the first covenant, whether child, slave, or stran- 
 ger, who was not first within the covenant ; and, 
 by analogy, no one ought to receive the token of the 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 183 
 
 second covenant who is not first within it ; and as 
 infants can not be shown to be within the second 
 covenant, because they can not be shown to be be- 
 Hevers, so, by the analogy of circumcision, they 
 ought not to receive its token. 
 
 The JJnlaivfulness of hifajit Baptism proved from 
 the Fact that Circwncision did not introduce In- 
 fants into the Abrahamic Covenant of Grace. 
 
 But the covenant which God made with Abra- 
 ham contained further promises. Let us recall the 
 words : "As for me, behold, my covenant is with 
 thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations," 
 Gen., xvii., 4. "In thee shall all families of the 
 earth be blessed," Gen., xii., 3. "In thy seed shall 
 all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou 
 hast obeyed my voice," Gen., xxii., 18. Upon which 
 promises the Apostle Paul has made the following 
 comments : " The promise, that he should be the 
 heir of the world, was not to Abraham or to his 
 seed through the law, but through the righteousness 
 of faith ; for if they who are of the law be heirs, 
 faith is made void, and the promise made of none 
 effect. . . . Therefore it is of faith that it might be 
 by grace, to the end that the promise might be sure 
 to all the seed ; not to that only which is of the law, 
 but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, 
 who is the father of us all, as it is written, I have 
 made thee a father of many nations," Rom., iv., 13— 
 17. "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would 
 justify the heathen through faith, preached before 
 the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all 
 nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith 
 
184 INFANT BAPTISM 
 
 are blessed with faithful Abraham," Gal., iii., 8, 9. 
 " To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. 
 He saith not, And to seeds, as of many ; but as of 
 one, and to thy seed, which is Christ," Gal., iii., 16. 
 It was here promised to Abraham that Christ should 
 be his descendant, that the nations should believe in 
 Christ, and that, believing, they should be blessed 
 in him. They should be no longer under the curse 
 of the law (Gal., iii., 10), but be blessed with faith- 
 ful Abraham (Gal., iii., 8, 9), pa,rdoned, adopted, 
 sanctified, preserved, and brought to eternal glory 
 through faith. Thus the promises made to Abra- 
 ham contained two distinct covenants, the one made 
 with his natural posterity, the other wath his spir- 
 itual posterity ; the one left its subjects in bondage, 
 the other led its subjects to adoption ; the one fur- 
 nished temporal advantages and means of instruc- 
 tion, the other secured salvation ; the one was a 
 conditional legal covenant, the other was an uncon- 
 ditional covenant of grace. His spiritual posterity, 
 as such, had no part m the first of these covenants ; 
 his natural posterity, as such, had no part in the 
 second. All these spiritual blessings were promised, 
 not to Israelites, but to believers ; not through the 
 law, but through faith. '= For the promise that he 
 should be heir of the world was not to Abraham or 
 to his seed through the law, but through the right- 
 eousness of faith. . . . Therefore it is of faith that it 
 might be by grace, to the end the promise might be 
 sure to all the seed ; not to that only which is of 
 the law, but to that also which is of the faith of 
 Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is writ- 
 ten, I have made thee a father of manv nations," 
 
NOT WARRANTED BY CIRCUMCISION. 185 
 
 Rom., iv., 14, 16, 17. The blessings of the na- 
 tional covenant were to be obtained by obedience to 
 the law, Exod., xix., 6 ; Lev., xxv., 18 ; xxvi., 3, 4 ; 
 Ps., Ixxxi., 8-14 ; Isa., i., 1 9, 20. They were there- 
 fore conditional, they might be forfeited, and they 
 were so (Isa., Ixv., 15 ; Matt., xxi., 43 ; Gal., iv., 
 30), " because the law worketh wrath" (Rom., iv., 
 15), only serving to manifest the corruption of 
 men, and to expose them to t^e punishment of dis- 
 obedience. 
 
 If, therefore, obedience had been the condition of 
 the covenant of grace, believers would not have been 
 blessed, because, still imperfect in obedience, they 
 would have forfeited their blessings, and " faith 
 would have been made void ;" but as the covenant 
 was absolute, as God said, " I have made thee a 
 father of many nations," " In thy seed shall all the 
 nations of the earth be blessed," therefore it was to 
 be secured by faith alone, that it might be of mere 
 mercy, so that it might be fulfilled to all believers. 
 " Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith, 
 the same are the children of Abraham. . . . And the 
 Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the 
 heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel 
 unto Abraham, saying. In thee shall all nations be 
 blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed 
 with faithful Abraham. . . . Christ hath redeemed 
 us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for 
 us, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon 
 the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might 
 receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. . . . 
 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises 
 made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many ; 
 
18G INFANi' l!.\l'TIriM 
 
 but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ 
 And this I say, that the covenant that was confirm- 
 ed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four 
 hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, 
 that it should make the promise of none effect. For 
 if the inheritance be by the law, it is no more of 
 promise ; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 
 Wherefore, then, serveth the law ? It was added 
 because of transgressions, till the seed should come 
 to whom the promise was made. . . . Ye are all the 
 children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. And if 
 ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and 
 heirs according to the promise," Gal., iii., 7—29. 
 As God had promised to bless the Israelites if they 
 were obedient to his law (Exod., xix., 5, 6 ; xxiv., 
 7, 8), the Judaizing Christians maintained that obe- 
 dience to the law of Moses, which was part of the 
 national covenant, w^as necessary to salvation (Acts, 
 XV., 1,5; Gal., iv., 9, 10, 21 ; v., 1—4) ; and Paul 
 corrected their error by declaring that the covenant 
 of grace made with Abraham on behalf of all be- 
 lievers, four hundred and thirty years before that the 
 giving of the law completed the national covenant, 
 secured salvation by grace through faith to all be- 
 lievers. Thus the blessings of the Abrahamic na- 
 tional covenant were promised to works, and the 
 blessings of the Abrahamic covenant of grace were 
 promised to faith. The national covenant was made 
 with all Israelites, believers, as such, having no share 
 in it ; and the covenant of grace was made with all 
 believers, Israelites, as such, having no share in it. 
 The natural descendants of Abraham were under 
 the law, which still left them, though possessed of 
 
NOT Warranted by circumcision. 187 
 
 great privileges, liable to apostasy and excision ; and 
 his spiritual descendants were under the covenant 
 of grace, which secured their eternal salvation, " It 
 is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by 
 a bond-maid, the other by a free-woman. But he 
 who was of the bond-woman was born after the 
 flesh ; but he of the free- wo man was by promise. 
 Which things are an allegory : for these are the 
 two covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai, which 
 gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this 
 Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to 
 Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with 
 her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, 
 which is the mother of us all. . . . Now we, breth- 
 ren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. . . . 
 Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture ? Cast out 
 the bond- woman and her son ; for the son of the 
 bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the 
 free-woman. So then, brethren, we are not children 
 of the bond-woman, but of the free," Gal., iv., 22—3 1 . 
 The Jewish nation, then, according to Paul, was 
 typified by Hagar ; the Church of God within the 
 nation was typified by Sarah. Unbelievers in the 
 Jewish nation w^re typified by Ishmael ; believers, 
 whether Jew or Gentile, were typified by Isaac. 
 The nation was the object of the Abrahamic na- 
 tional covenant ; the Church of God within and 
 without the nation was the object of the Abrahamic 
 covenant of grace. The national covenant was 
 made with Jews as Jews, the covenant of grace 
 was made with Jews and Gentiles as believers. 
 The privileges of the first covenant were attained by 
 birth, the privileges of the second by a new birth. 
 
188 IXFAXT BAPTISM XoT \V AKK AXTF.D BV 
 
 Faith alone was no introduction into the first, de- 
 scent alone was no introduction into the second. 
 Many Gentiles who triumphed in Christ were ex- 
 cluded from the one ; all the Jews who rejected 
 Christ were excluded from the other. Cornelius 
 had no part in the one, Caiaphas none in the other. 
 There were thus in the Jewish nation two commu- 
 nities, the one of the circumcised descendants of 
 Abraham, without faith, who were in bondage ; the 
 second of the believing descendants of Abraham, 
 who were children of God ; the one within the na- 
 tional covenant by descent, the other within the 
 spiritual covenant by faith. When, therefore, cir- 
 cumcision was administered to the Jewish infant, it 
 was a token of the Abrahamic national covenant, 
 within which the infant was placed by birth, but no 
 token of the Abrahamic covenant of grace, within 
 which the infant was not placed till it became re- 
 generate by grace. Circumcision marked the infant 
 as a citizen of the chosen nation, and within the 
 national covenant, but did not mark it as a member 
 of the Church of God, or show it to be within the 
 covenant of grace. Now, as circumcision left the 
 infants of the chosen nation outside of the covenant 
 of grace, it can not prove that infants are within 
 the covenant of grace now. On the contrary, as 
 each Jew who was then born within the Abrahamic 
 national covenant could obtain an interest in the 
 Abrahamic covenant of grace by faith alone, so by 
 faith alone must men obtain an interest in it now. 
 Jew and Gentile are here alike. Both may be born 
 to great providential and spiritual advantages, but 
 both must be new-born to obtain a share in the 
 
THE PROMISES TO GODLY PARENTS. 189 
 
 spiritual and eternal blessings of the new covenant. 
 Grace is not matter of inheritance ; the infants of 
 regenerate persons are not therefore regenerate, and 
 those of whose regeneration we can have no proof 
 ought not to receive the seal of regeneration. Faith 
 must he developed and professed before baptism, 
 which is its token, can be rightly administered ; and 
 the circumcision of infants is no proof that they 
 should be baptized. 
 
 Section III. Infant Baptism ^lot ivarranted by 
 the Promises of God to Godly Parents. 
 
 Some excellent men derive the duty of baptizing 
 infants from the promises which God has given in 
 his word to the children of godly parents. The priv- 
 ileges of such children have been stated by two 
 estimable authors lately in the following terms : 
 " The promises made to the children of believers 
 are exceeding rich and numerous. . . . See, then, in 
 virtue of these promises, the true position of the 
 children of believers before the Lord. They are par- 
 takers of covenant love, pronounced an heritage of 
 the Lord, and blessed by him, with explicit prom- 
 ises of the Holy Spirit and a new heart, under the 
 Savior's express testimony. ' Of such is the king- 
 dom of heaven,' already from infancy admitted by cir- 
 cumcision into the Jewish Church, and pronounced 
 holy by an inspired apostle. . . . How good is the 
 Lord I Meeting the strongest wishes of parental 
 love, he entails upon the posterity of his people the 
 grace of his covenant. . . . The salvation of the in- 
 fant of the believer is assured. ... If such prom- 
 ises of spiritual blessings already belong to children, 
 
190 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 on what ground can the sign and seal of the prom- 
 ises be withheld from them ? If the greater be 
 given, why shall the less be withheld ? St. Peter 
 argued most forcibly respecting Cornelius and those 
 who heard the word with him on whom the Holy 
 Ghost had fallen. ' Can any man forbid water, that 
 these should not be baptized which have received the 
 Holy Ghost as well as we V So we may argue in 
 the case of infants. They are partakers of the prom- 
 ise ; let us show our faith in that promise by giving 
 them its appointed sign. The repentance and faith 
 which is requisite for the adult previous to baptism, 
 is in the case of the infant supplied by the promises 
 of grace and of the Spirit to them." Another ex- 
 cellent author thus continues : " Baptism has ever 
 been considered by the Church of Christ as that in- 
 itiating sacrament by which the child receives the 
 solemn investiture of his privileges as a believer in 
 Christ. . . . Invested with the high distinction of a 
 member of Christ, his parent will teach him that 
 this is no futile designation, that his privileges are 
 real and substantial. . . . This Christian parent looks 
 upon his child really as a member of Christ, endeav- 
 ors to invest him with all the privileges to which 
 he is entitled as a child of God, and considers that 
 he has an unquestionable title to the inheritance of 
 glory. . . . With what a sincere effusion of holy 
 gratitude will the faithful parent, sponsor, and be- 
 liever unite in those expressions of praise, * We give 
 thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, first, that 
 it hath pleased thee to regenerate this infant with 
 thy Holy Spirit.' Not to confer on him the sign 
 only, but the thing signified also ; not to impart the 
 
THE PROMISES TO GODLY PARENTS. 191 
 
 seal only, but to bestow an earnest of the blessings 
 sealed ; not only to wash the child with the out- 
 ward emblem of water, but inwardly to communi- 
 cate the grace of the Holy Spirit which cleanses 
 from sin. Secondly, ' To receive him for thine own 
 child by adoption.' Not merely to give him a 
 Christian name, and to enroll him nominally among 
 thy children, but really and truly to receive him 
 into thy family of grace as thine own adopted child, 
 of which thou hast given an assurance by regenera- 
 ting him by thy Holy Spirit. ' And to incorporate 
 hira into thy Holy Church,' to which body he is as 
 vitally united by faith as the member constitutes a 
 part of the body. And this child is now dead to 
 sin, living unto righteousness, and is buried with 
 Christ in his death. . . . Unless in a judgment of 
 faith and charity this child is a member of Christ, 
 the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom 
 of heaven ; unless he is a lively member of the 
 Church ; unless he is really regenerated by the Holy 
 Spirit, received as God's own child by adoption, and 
 incorporated into the holy Church ; unless, in an- 
 swer to the faithful prayers of himself (the sponsor), 
 the parents, and the Church, the Holy Ghost is 
 sanctifying him as one of the elect people of God, 
 and being one so truly blessed, he shall ever remain 
 in the number of his faithful and elect children, with 
 what hope of success could a Christian man accept 
 the office of a sponsor ?" Believing all this, the 
 sponsor is urged to address the child thus : "As you 
 are now a child of his adoption, you are at all times 
 acceptable to him, and his ear is ever open to hear 
 you. . . . Remember what blessed privileges you 
 
192 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 were admitted to at your baptism. You were first 
 made a member of Christ. . . . Now I expect the 
 evidences that you are as truly incorporated into, or 
 become a member of Christ's mystical body, as that 
 my arm or my leg are a part of this my natural 
 body. ... As you were at your baptism made a 
 member of Christ, you were, in virtue of this con- 
 nection with Jesus Christ, then made the child of 
 God also. As God is his Father, so he is now your 
 Father ; not by nature, but by adoption and grace. 
 And being a child of God, you are an inheritor of 
 the kingdom of heaven. If a child then, an heir, 
 heir of God, and joint-heir with Christ, enjoying the 
 privilege of a child, heaven is given you as your ev- 
 erlasting inheritance. God regards you as a portion 
 of his Son, a member of his very body ; and with the 
 love wherewith he loves him, he loves you also." 
 
 As all faith must rest upon the promise of God, 
 and every expectation which is beyond the promises 
 of God is presumption, not faith, let us now consider 
 what ground is afforded by the word of God for con- 
 sidering children as entitled to baptism, because they 
 are, through the promises of God, members of Christ, 
 children of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of 
 heaven. The promises which these pious Psedo- 
 Baptist authors adduce are the following : 
 
 - I. "I, the Lord thy Gt)d, am a jealous God, vis- 
 iting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children 
 unto the third and fourth generation of them that 
 hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them 
 that love me and keep my commandments," Exod., 
 XX., 5, 6 ; Deut., v., 9 ; Exod., xxxiv., 7 ; Numb., 
 xiv., 18. "Know, therefore, that the Lord thy 
 
THE rROMISES TO GODLY TARENTo. 193 
 
 God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth 
 covenant and mercy with them that love him and 
 keep his commandments to a thousand generations," 
 Deut., vii., 9. " The mercy of the Lord is from ev- 
 erlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, 
 and his righteousness unto children's children ; to 
 such as keep his covenant, and to those who remem- 
 ber his commandments to do them," Ps. ciii., 17, 18. 
 " My righteousness shall be forever, and my salva- 
 tion from generation to generation," Isa,, li., 8 ; see, 
 also, 6. *' His mercy is on them that fear him from 
 generation to generation," Luke, i., 50. 
 
 If these were promises to the children of believers, 
 no age is specified, and it would prove nothing re- 
 specting the conversion and baptism of infants. But 
 there is no reference to children in them. If they 
 related to children, they would declare that God 
 shows mercy to the whole posterity of each believer 
 as long as the world shall last ; consequently, that 
 all the descendants of any pious men in past ages 
 now alive are within the covenant of grace. The 
 extravagance of this interpretation shows that it is 
 false ; and if so, then these passages speak nothing 
 of children, but declare that God is unchangeably 
 gracious, as long as the world lasts, to all who love, 
 fear, and obey him. They contain an invaluable 
 assurance to all believers, but are misapplied when 
 they are interpreted of children. 
 
 II. God has sometimes shown special mercy to 
 children. When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram per- 
 ished for their rebellion, the children of Korah died 
 not. Numb., xxvi., 11. When Jonah was angry 
 at the preservation of Nineveh, Ood said to him, 
 
194 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 " Should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, where- 
 in are more than six score thousand persons that can 
 not discern between their right hand and their left 
 hand, and also much cattle?" Jonah, iv., 11. 
 
 But if God spared the lives of these children, this 
 is no proof of their salvation. And if he has shown 
 mercy to children, he has also shown just severity 
 toward them. While the children of Korah Avere 
 saved, the children of Dathan and Abiram perished, 
 Numb., xvi., 27, 33. If the children of Nineveh 
 were saved, those of Sodom and Gomorrah perished 
 in the fire, and those of the whole world in the flood, 
 Gen., xix., 24 ; 2 Pet., ii., 5. And if the compas- 
 sionate mention of the children of Nineveh shows 
 that children ina}^ be baptized, then the compassion- 
 ate mention of the cattle must show the same thing 
 of them. All such texts, therefore, prove nothing 
 respecting the regeneration and baptism of infants. 
 
 III. Various promises have been made to the 
 children of Abraham : 
 
 " All the land which thou seest, to thee will I 
 give it and to thy seed forever," Gen., xiii., 15 ; see 
 XV., 5, 18. '-'I will establish my covenant between 
 me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their gener- 
 ations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto 
 thee and to thy seed after thee," Gen., xvii., 7 ; see, 
 also, verse 19. "The Lord had a delight in thy 
 fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after 
 them," Deut., x., 15. "When thou shalt return 
 unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice ac- 
 cording to all that I command thee, thou and thy 
 children, with all thine heart and with all thy soul 
 , . . the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart 
 
THE PROMISES TO GODLY PARENTS. 195 
 
 and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God 
 with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou 
 mayest live," Deut., xxx., 2, 6. 
 
 These promises were conditional, not absolute ; 
 they secured external blessings, but not grace ; they 
 left the children to which they referred unconverted 
 and unblessed ; they have issued in the rejection of 
 the nation for their sins, and therefore they can con- 
 vey no promise of grace to the children of believers, 
 nor establish the right of such children to baptism ; 
 and when they are explained to declare that the 
 children of believers shall have grace and salvation, 
 they are misapplied. 
 
 IV. Various promises have been made of perpet- 
 ual blessings to the Church of Christ, among which 
 are the following : 
 
 <* Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear ; break 
 forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not 
 travail with child ; for more are the children of the 
 desolate than the children of the married wife, saith 
 the Lord. . . . All thy children shall be taught of 
 the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of thy chil- 
 dren," Isa., liv., 1, 13. " Jerusalem which is above 
 is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is 
 written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not ; break 
 forth and cry, thou that travailest not ; for the des- 
 olate hath many more children than she which hath 
 an husband," Gal., iv., 26, 27. "It is written in 
 the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. 
 Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath 
 learned of the Father, cometh imto me," John, vi., 
 45. " The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto 
 them that turn from transirression in Jacob, saith 
 
196 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with 
 them, saith the Lord ; my Spirit that is upon thee, 
 and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall 
 not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth 
 of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, 
 saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever," Isa., 
 hx., 20, 21. 
 
 It is obvious that these and similar promises, 
 which are made to believers as the children of Zion 
 in successive generations, speak nothing whatever of 
 the transmission of piety from father to son ; they 
 declare the perpetuity of the Church, as Matt., xvi., 
 18, but are totally silent respecting the natural de- 
 scendants of believers. And if they are interpreted 
 to declare that piety shall descend from father to son 
 in unbroken succession to the end of time, they are 
 misapplied, and facts palpably contradict, not the 
 promises of the Almighty, but the misinterpretation 
 of them. No instances of such hereditary godliness 
 descending in families from the apostolic days to our 
 own can be adduced. 
 
 V. Another class of promises are those which are 
 made to the children of believers accordinof to the 
 election of grace. Among these are the following : 
 
 " Fear not, O Jacob, my servant ; and thou, Jesh- 
 urun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour wa- 
 ter upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry 
 ground : I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and 
 my blessing upon thy ofFspring. And they shall 
 spring up as among the grass, as willows by the 
 water-courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's ; and 
 another shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; 
 and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the 
 
THE PROMISES TO GODLY PARENTS. 197 
 
 Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel," 
 Isa., xliv., 2—5. 
 
 This promise is made to the elect nation, the peo- 
 ple of God, the Church of God among the Jews. — 
 Vitringa, Barnes, &c. I will assume that the seed 
 spoken of are not the spiritual children of the Church, 
 as Vitringa argues (see Isa., xxviii., 22 ; xliii., 5 ; 
 liv., 1,13; Rom., ix., 6-8 ; Gal., iv., 25), but 
 the children of believers. — Alexander, Barnes, &c. 
 Then it is evident, 1 . That the blessing is not prom- 
 ised to all the children, but to '<one" and "another" 
 (5), according to the sovereign grace of God, to the 
 elect of God (Rom., ix., 6—8 ; xi., 5—7, 28) ; and 
 to baptize all the children of believers, as though all 
 were thus chosen, is to overlook and to dishonor this 
 sovereignty of God. 2. There is a promise that the 
 elect children of believers shall make a profession of 
 religion (5), but there is no promise of regeneration 
 in infancy. To baptize infants as regenerate is, 
 therefore, wholly beyond the promise ; to receive 
 youthful believers to profess their faith by baptism 
 is exactly according to the promise. 3. There is a 
 promise that God will bless the children of believ- 
 ers, but the means are not specified ; and to assume 
 that infant baptism is the mean is to assume the 
 question under discussion, and to prescribe means 
 and times to God. 
 
 " Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. 
 . . . The child shall die an hundred years old ... As 
 the days of a tree are the days of my people, and 
 my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 
 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for 
 trouble ; for they are the seed of the blessed of the 
 
198 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 Lord, and their offspring with them. The wolf and 
 the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat 
 straw like the bullock," &c., Isa., Ixv., 17, 20, 22- 
 23, 25. 
 
 1 . This promise is to be fully accomplished when 
 the latter-day glory is come ; when he who dies at 
 the age of one hundred years will be accounted a 
 child, when men live as long as the oak and the ce- 
 dar, and when wild beasts become as the lamb. 
 
 2. Even then God is sovereign to elect whom he 
 will, and all the children of believers will not be 
 blessed (Rev., xx., 8, 9) ; nor is it said that even the 
 elect will be blessed in infancy. To baptize, there- 
 fore, children now on the ground of this promise 
 would be a manifest misinterpretation of it. 
 
 " It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour 
 out my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and 
 your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall 
 dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, 
 and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids 
 in those days will I pour out my Spirit," Joel, ii., 
 28, 29. " Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and 
 be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus 
 Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto 
 you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, 
 even as many as the Lord our God shall call," Acts, 
 ii., 38, 39. Upon this verse some argue that, as 
 the promise of the Spirit is to the children of all be- 
 lievers, they may receive baptism as the sign of that 
 superior gift ; but observe : 1 . The apostle here ad- 
 dressed the multitude as believers or not. If as be- 
 lievers, then he baptized the three thousand simply 
 
TUE PROMISES TO CODLY PARENT?*. 199 
 
 as believers ; and as their children are not mention- 
 ed, they were not baptized, and, consequently, the 
 children of believers ought not, as such, to be bap- 
 tized. 2. If he addressed them not as believers, but 
 as unconverted, then the promise was only theirs con- 
 ditionally, that is, they would receive the promised 
 gifts of the Spirit if they believed. See verse 38. 
 In such case the promise was only conditional to 
 them, and therefore only conditional to their chil- 
 dren ; the Spirit was ofiered to them upon their be- 
 lieving. 3. The children could only receive the 
 promise in the same sense as the parents ; and as 
 the parents would experience the promise only upon 
 believing, so their children could experience it in the 
 same way alone. It was not made absolute to par- 
 ents, why then to their children ? It was made to 
 those parents alone who believed ; why not, then, to 
 those children who believed ? As believing parents 
 could receive the Spirit, so would believing children 
 and no others. As the promise was made to chil- 
 dren, so it was to slaves and to the heathen (Joel, 
 ii., 28, 29); "to all afar off,'' Acts, ii., 39 ; Isai- 
 ah, Ivii., 19 ; Eph., ii., 13. And if it included all 
 the children, it no less included slaves and heathens, 
 all of whom should be baptized no less than the in- 
 fants of believers. 4. If it be objected that the apos- 
 tle limited the promise to those among the heathen 
 who should be called, not merely invited (Matt., xx., 
 16), but called by grace (Rom., viii., 28, 30 ; 1 
 Cor., i., 23, 24 ; 2 Peter, i., 10), I answer that the 
 promise is equally limited to the "called" multitude 
 and their "called" children. All among the Jew- 
 ish multitude, among their children, and among the 
 
200 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 heathen who would believe, should receive the ful- 
 fillment of the promise, and none others. There is 
 here no promise to all the children of believers, nor 
 any specification of the time when even the elect 
 should be blessed ; and to baptize all the infant chil- 
 dren of believers as regenerate upon the authority 
 of these two texts, is to misinterpret them. 5. If 
 children are included with their parents in the cov- 
 enant of grace, then not the Jewish children alone, 
 who are here mentioned, are included, but the chil- 
 dren of all other believers ; but the apostle express- 
 ly says that the promise belongs to those Gentiles 
 only, whether adults or children, who are called. 
 Consequently, the promise belonged to those children 
 of Jewish believers who were called by grace, and 
 to no others ; and the passage contains no promise 
 of grace to the children of believers as such. 
 
 If the promise is made to all who are called by 
 the Gospel, as Matt., xx., 16, it is only made to 
 children on condition of believing ; or if it be given, 
 to those who are called by the Spirit (see Rom., viii., 
 28, 30 ; 1 Cor., i., 24 ; 2 Peter, i., 10), then the 
 promise is indeed absolute, but limited to those who 
 are " called" children, as well as others, and speaks 
 nothing of children generally. 
 
 Similar remarks must be made on Rom., xi., 28 : 
 "As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for 
 your sakes, but as touching the election, they are 
 beloved for the fathers' sakes." 
 
 As the majority of the children of Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob were " enemies" and abandoned to 
 destruction (Matt., xxi., 43 ; John, xii., 39, 40 ; 
 Gal., iv., 30 ; 1 Thess., ii., 16) — but there was an 
 
THE PROMISES TO GODLY PARENTS. 201 
 
 elect few blessed for their sakes (John, vi., 44, 45, 
 64, 65 ; Rom., xi., 1—7)-— so God may bless whom 
 he will among the children of believers. No one 
 may presume upon his birth (John, i., 12, 13 ; Luke, 
 iii., 8) ; and to baptize all the children of believers 
 as regenerate, is to dishonor the sovereignty of God, 
 and involve both parents and children in dangerous 
 delusion. 
 
 VI. There are other encouraging declarations and 
 promises to animate parents to use all means for the 
 salvation of their children, of which the following 
 are the most important : 
 
 Children are a blessing from God to his servants. 
 " Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord," i. e., a 
 heritage from him ; " and the fruit of the womb is 
 his reward," Psalm cxxvii., 3. " Thy wife shall be 
 as a fruitful vine by the sides of thy house, thy 
 children like olive plants round about thy table. 
 Lo, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the 
 Lord," Psalm cxxviii., 3, 4. 
 
 Since children are given to believers as a blessing, 
 parents, if they do their duty, may expect to derive 
 comfort from their children, and not sorrow. 
 
 A blessing is promised upon a godly education. 
 " Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but 
 bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord," Eph., vi., 4. ''Train up a child in the way 
 he should go, and when he is old he will not depart 
 fromi it," Prov., xxii., 6. " Foolishness is bound in 
 the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall 
 drive it far from him," Prov., xxii., 15. " Correct 
 thy son, and he shall give thee rest ; yea, he shall 
 give delight unto thy soul," Prov., xxix., 17. 
 
202 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BV 
 
 "When, therefore, Christian parents educate their 
 children carefully, in faith, with much prayer, they 
 may expect their conversion. 
 
 The children of consistent Christians are often 
 blessed. 
 
 " The curse of the Lord is in the house of the 
 wicked, but he blesseth the habitation of the just," 
 Prov., iii., 33. 
 
 Parents, children, and servants, all obtain a bless- 
 ing often in the house of a consistent Christian, who 
 sets a good example, and rules his family according 
 to the directions of the word of God. 
 
 "I have been young and now am old, yet have I 
 not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging 
 bread. He is ever merciful, and leiideth, and his 
 seed is blessed," Psalm xxxvii., 25, 26 ; Psalm cxii., 
 2. "A good man leaveth an inheritance unto his 
 children's children," Prov., xiii., 22. See, also, 
 Matt., vi., 33 ; Heb., xiii., 5 ; 1 Pet., v., 7. A 
 Christian is under the care of God, cultivates the 
 social and civic virtues which lead to success in life, 
 recommends them to his children, so that often he 
 leaves them at his death thriving in the world 
 through their industry, sense, and moral worth, with 
 the blessing of God. 
 
 " The just man w^alketh in his integrity ; his 
 children are blessed after him," Prov., xx., 7. Ex- 
 ample, authority, instruction, influence, affection, 
 prayer, bring a blessing upon his children, which 
 lasts when he is dead. 
 
 Such means God has intimated that he will bless. 
 
 ** I know him, that he will command his children 
 and his household after him, and they shall keep the 
 
THE PROMJrfES TO GODLY PARENTS. '208 
 
 way of the. Lord, to do justice and judgment ; that 
 the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he 
 hath spoken of him," Gen., xviii., 19. " They shall 
 be my people, and 1 will be their God. And I will 
 give them one heart and one way, that they may 
 fear me forever, for the good of them and of their 
 children after them," Jer., xxxii., 38, 39. 
 
 All these promises and declarations show that 
 pious parents often bring both temporal and spiritual 
 blessings upon their children, but they do not say 
 one word about infancy ; on the contrary, they inti- 
 mate that the blessing is to be imparted to the fam- 
 ily through patient and consistent painstaking in 
 doing good, through instruction, discipline, example, 
 and prayer. Hence there have ever been except 
 cases standing painfully out to warn parents against 
 neglect and presumption. David certainly could not 
 mean that all the children of all righteous persons 
 are blessed (Psalm xxxvii., 26), for he was eminent- 
 ly pious himself (1 Kings, xv., 3, 5) ; yet his son 
 Amnon was murdered by his brother Absalom for 
 the crime of incest, 2 Sam., xiii,, 29. Absalom 
 was killed in an attempt to dethrone and kill his 
 father (2 Sam., xviii., 14) ; and his son Adonijah 
 was executed as a traitor, 1 Kings, ii., 24. Solo- 
 mon certainly could not think that all the children 
 of just men are blessed after them (Prov., xx., 7), 
 for his son Rehoboam was ungodly (2 Chron., xii., 
 1, 14) ; and it is evident that he expected that his 
 son would prove himself a fool, and bring mischief 
 upon himself, Eccles., ii., 17-19. It is impossible 
 to look at the sacred history without seeing how 
 often the children of godly men have been ungodly. 
 
204 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 Ham, the son of Noah, brought a curse upon his 
 family (Gen., ix., 24, 25); Esau, the son of Isaac, 
 was ungodly (Gen., xxvi., 34 ; xxvii., 41 ; Mai., i., 
 3 ; Heb., xii., 16) ; the sons of Jacob conspired to 
 murder their brother Joseph ; Nadab and Abihu, 
 two of the sons of Aaron, were cut off in their sin 
 (Lev., X., 1) ; the sons of Job were unlike their 
 father (Job, i., 4, 5) ; " the sons of Eli were sons 
 of Belial" (1 Sam., ii., 12); Samuel's sons were 
 unrighteous judges (1 Sam., viii., 3) ; Jehoram, the 
 son of pious King Jehoshaphat, was a wicked prince 
 (2 Chron., xxi., 6) ; Ahaz, the son of Jotham, was 
 wicked (2 Chron., xxvii., 6 ; xxviii., 1,2); Manas- 
 seh, the son of Hezekiah, was outrageously wicked (2 
 Kings, xxi. ; 2 Chron., xxxiii.) ; and Jehoiakim, the 
 sonof Josiah, was likewise ungodly, 2 Kings, xxiii., 37. 
 
 With these and similar instances in view, what 
 sober person can think that God has promised to re- 
 generate the children of believers generally ? These 
 promises contain no such assurance. 
 
 One excellent author accounts for this lamentable 
 fact that godly parents are often cursed with ungod- 
 ly children in the following manner : "It is true 
 that children, when they come to age, may, by per- 
 sonal unbelief and disobedience, fall from this grace, 
 giving another painful example of the stubbornness 
 of evil against all God's gracious dealings ; but let 
 God be true, and every man a liar. No experi- 
 enced Christian, who knows himself, will charge the 
 fault of ungodly children on God's failure in his own 
 promise, but rather on his own or his children's un- 
 belief and inconsistencies. He will with his whole 
 soul clear God, however he condemns himself or his 
 
THE PROMISES TO GODLY PARENTS. 205 
 
 own offspring. ' If a covenanted people break their 
 part of the covenant, they shall know his breach of 
 promise ; that is, that he is not obliged to perform 
 what he had promised, and would have performed, 
 if they had performed their duty toward him.' " — 
 Bickersteth, 109, 110 * 
 
 Children, then, it seems, may remain unregen- 
 erate : 1st, through the inconsistency of even expe- 
 rienced Christian parents ; 2d, through their own 
 unbelief and inconsistency ; and so both parents and 
 children may experience God's breach of promise. 
 In truth, the defects of even very eminent and very 
 pious parents so often cause this failure (of which 
 many painful examples occur to me at this moment), 
 as to make the breach of promise much more fre- 
 quent than its fulfillment. Comparatively few chil- 
 dren manifest early piety, and numbers grow up from 
 a thoughtless childhood to an irreligious manhood, 
 so that it is utterly improper to assume that these 
 promises are generally fulfilled, when they are de- 
 pendent upon conditions which a large proportion of 
 pious parents are proved, by the facts, not to have 
 kept. It is asserted that God has promised to re- 
 generate the infants of believers, if those believers 
 are not inconsistent, as he promised that the people 
 of Israel should be a peculiar treasure to him if they 
 would obey his voice (Exod., xix., 5) ; but if pious 
 parents are inconsistent, as Israel was disobedient, 
 
 * Is not this statement too much like John, ix., 2? Does it not 
 imply that God punishes children with the loss of baptismal bless- 
 ings for the sins which he foresees that they will after commit? 
 Or does the excellent author mean that the children are indeed 
 regenerate, but afterward fall away ? An opinion which I am un- 
 willing to ascribe to him. 
 
206 INFANT BAPTItiM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 the parents forfeit the promises made to them, as 
 the nation, forfeited the promises made to it. And 
 how can any parent, with moderate sobriety of mind, 
 claim and rest upon these promises, which he knows 
 that his own inconsistency may defeat ? What 
 amount of consistency may be necessary to secure 
 the regeneration of his infant, he knows not ; but he 
 knows that many eminent Christians have had un- 
 regenerate children, and that he has many faults. 
 Under these circumstances, has he not more reason 
 to expect the breach of the promise than its fulfill- 
 ment, and more reason to defer the baptism of his 
 child as probably unregenerate, than cause to bap- 
 tize it as probably regenerate ? 
 
 But, indeed, this statement sweeps away the whole 
 doctrine of infant baptism, with its imaginary fabric 
 of baptismal privileges ; for, since the regeneration 
 of the child is suspended, not only on the faith and 
 consistency of the parent, but also on the subsequent 
 faith and consistency of the child, the inconsistency 
 of either party securing the breach of the promise, 
 how do the children of believers differ from all other 
 children ? If the cliildren of believers are unbeUev- 
 ing and inconsistent, the promises are no more, it 
 seems, fulfilled to them than to any other children ; 
 and if the children of mibelievers are believing and 
 consistent, they are certainly as much accepted in 
 Christ as the children of believers ; so that there is, 
 in this respect, no difierence between these two 
 classes, and there is no more reason to baptize the 
 children of believers than the children of unbeliev- 
 ers. Since the fulfillment of the promises depends 
 upon the faith of the children, they may be wholly 
 
THE PROMISES TO GODLY PARENTS. 207 
 
 abortive ; and since this may often happen, how can 
 it be right to baptize children as regenerate when 
 we have too much reason to think that, hke many- 
 others in similar circumstances, their subsequent un- 
 belief and inconsistency will prove them to be unre- 
 generate ? 
 
 There are in Scripture great promises and en- 
 couraging truths addressed to parents who will do 
 their duty to their children. Since children are de- 
 clared to be a blessing from God to his servants, it 
 is not his will that they should be a source of shame 
 and sorrow to them, Psalm cxxvii., 3 ; cxxviii., 3, 
 4. A good education is declared to be generally 
 successful (Prov., xxii., 6 ; xxix.. 17 ; Eph., vi., 4); 
 God is ready to bless them (Isa., xliv., 2—5) ; they 
 are often blessed, Psalm xxxvii., 26 ; Prov., iii., 26 ; 
 xiii., 22 ; xx., 7. Prompted by natural affection, 
 and sustained by grace, many parents have educated 
 their children with great success. Like Hannah, 
 they have devoted them to God from their infancy 
 (1 Sam., i., 28), heartily desiring that they should 
 glorify him in life, death, and eternity ; and, influ- 
 enced by this desire, they have '-sought first the king- 
 dom of God" for their children as well as for them- 
 selves, Matt., vi., 33. With this aim they have se- 
 lected their books, their companions, their schools, 
 the ministers by whom they should be instructed, 
 and the pleasures by which they might be gratified. 
 Being themselves godly, their principles sound, their 
 tempers amiable, their habits dutiful, their conversa- 
 tion Christianlike, their friends pious, their examples 
 have given effect to all other means which they have 
 employed for the improvement of their children, and 
 
208 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 each has illustrated the mspired saying, " The just 
 man walketh in his integrity ; his children are bless- 
 ed after him," Prov., xx., 7. 
 
 Such parents have instructed their children early 
 and thoroughly in the way of salvation. They have 
 made them to see their depravity by nature and 
 practice, their guilt, danger, and helplessness. Then 
 they have declared to them the love of God, as man- 
 ifested in nature, providence, and redemption. They 
 have often explained to them the love of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who has saved his people from the pun- 
 ishment due to their sins by suffering in their stead, 
 and the condescension of the Holy Spirit who con- 
 verts and sanctifies such guilty sinners. They have 
 thus unfolded to them the free and full salvation 
 provided for penitent believers by the love of the 
 Triune God, and have urged them to accept it. To 
 this end, also, they have urged them to read the 
 word of God, with other useful books, and early to 
 delight in secret prayer. They have taken pains to 
 let them hear instructive and awakening preaching, 
 and to give them the advantage of pastoral instruc- 
 tion, in Bible classes, or in other ways under faithful 
 ministers. In this manner they have instructed them 
 in the truths of the Gospel. 
 
 But, further, successful parents have taken care to 
 govern as well as to instruct their children, watch- 
 ing over their habits as well as forming their opin- 
 ions. While avoiding capricious, tyrannical, and un- 
 wise commands, they have required entire, prompt, 
 and cheerful obedience, and have, at the same time, 
 been indulgent to troublesome infirmities, and severe 
 toward eveiy species of immorality. In all these 
 
THE PROMISES TO GODLY PARENTS. 209 
 
 eflbrts they have been anxious to place them with 
 such teachers and companions as, instead of neutral- 
 izing the influences of home, would confirm them. 
 Such parental government has often formed lasting 
 habits, according to the well-known sayings of Solo- 
 mon : " Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest ; 
 yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul." " Train up 
 a child in the way he should go, and when he is old 
 he will not depart from it,'' Prov., xxix., 27 ; xxii., 6. 
 These and all other means, however, to be suc- 
 cessful, must be combined with a strong and opera- 
 tive sense of the need of divine grace in the whole 
 process of a Christian education. No parents can 
 of themselves secure the salvation of their children, 
 who, when they are converted, " are born, not of 
 blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
 man, but of God," John, i., 13. Without the aid 
 of the Spirit, efforts to convert sinners are fruitless, 
 1 Cor., iii., 6. And he converts whom he will, be- 
 stowing his favor freely on those who merit nothing, 
 James, i., 18 ; Phil., i., 12, 13. Hence parents must 
 give effect to all other means by frequent prayer, to 
 which habit the promises are very large. Matt., vii., 
 7, 8 ; John, xiv., 13. Intercession has often been 
 blessed by the Almighty, Gen., xviii., 23 ; Exod., 
 xxxii., 14 ; Numb., xiv., 20. He has graciously 
 heard parental intercession (Gen., xvii., 20) ; inter- 
 cession is agreeable to him (James, v., 16); and 
 especially when two parents unite to pray for their 
 children, they may look for his blessing. Matt., xviii., 
 19. When a Christian education has been con- 
 ducted thus, very often have the following promises 
 received an ample fulfillment : "I will pour my 
 
 O 
 
210 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine 
 offspring, and they shall spring up as among the 
 grass, as willows by the water- courses. One shall 
 say, I am the Lord's ; and another shall call him- 
 self by the name of Jacob ; and another shall sub- 
 scribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname 
 himself by the name of Israel," Isa., xliv., 3—5. 
 
 To what affectionate parent will these termis, upon 
 which alone a blessing can be secured for a family, 
 seem hard ? Great blessings are usually gained by 
 great labors. " In all labor there is profit. . . . The 
 soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing, but 
 the soul of the diligent shall be made fat." By no 
 less exertion can parents bless their children. About 
 regeneration in infancy these texts speak nothing, 
 and if infant baptism be founded upon them, it has 
 no scriptural foundation. And of this many parents 
 who sprinkle their children seem to be instinctively 
 aware, notwithstanding the contrary instruction of 
 many of their ministers. For thus an excellent au- 
 thor complains, imputing to unbelief the just and 
 unavoidable conclusions of their understandings : 
 *' They do not consider the child as thus regenera- 
 ted, adopted, and incorporated, and therefore they do 
 not plead the promise for a blessing on their educa- 
 tion of him as devoted to God, or call upon him as 
 one invested with so high privileges as a member of 
 Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the king- 
 dom of heaven, to walk Avorthy of his high calling. 
 . , , Neither baptismal blessings nor baptismal vows 
 are distinctly presented to the mind of the child, and 
 his baptism has no practical purpose. . . . The child 
 grows up without any consciousness of his baptismal 
 
THE PROMISES TO GODLY PARENTS. 211 
 
 enjoyments or privileges ; and the Church, not merely 
 the professing, but the spiritual Church . . . exercises 
 no faith in the promise, and presents no prayers for 
 its accomplishment toward him. Thus, even among 
 the pious, baptism is little more than a dead letter, 
 promises without plea for their fulfillment, vows 
 without concern to discharge them, a ceremony ac- 
 quitting them from subsequent interest, a sign signi- 
 fying nothing." — Budd, 11, 12. 
 
 But let it be remembered that all faith must rest 
 upon the promises of God, lying between presump- 
 tion and distrust. Distrust expects too little, pre- 
 sumption expects too much ; faith believes all that 
 God has said, and expects all that God has prom- 
 ised. To doubt that a blessing will follow Christian 
 education is distrust, because God has promised it ; 
 to assume the regeneration of children in infancy is 
 presumption, because God has not promised it. Mis- 
 applied promises have often led to presumption. 
 When Savonarola, at Florence, agreed to, test the 
 truth of his doctrine by Avalking through the fire, 
 because God has said, '< When thou walkest through 
 the fire thou shalt not be burned," he was presump- 
 tuous. When Mr. Fletcher, of Madeley, in his 
 youth, tried to dry up the puddles in his road by 
 prayer, because Christ has said, " All things what- 
 soever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall 
 receive" (Matt,, xxi., 22), he was presumptuous. 
 When, in our own day, a number of serious persons 
 attempted to speak in unknown tongues, and to heal 
 the sick by a touch, because Jesus had said that 
 such signs should accompany faith in him, they also 
 were presumptuous, Mark, xvi., 16, 17. And so it 
 
212 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 seems to me that to baptize children as regenerate, 
 assuming their regeneration without any warrant, 
 either from Scripture or from facts, is no less pre- 
 sumptuous. As no error is innoxious, so this, I fear, 
 leads parents in many cases to substitute the excited 
 devotion of a short half hour for the patient labor of 
 years. It is so pleasant to the indolent and worldly 
 to believe that a few prayers and a momentary de- 
 sire to commit a child to the care of God may accom- 
 plish its regeneration and salvation, and so easy thus 
 to extinguish the salutary fears for its welfare which 
 would have led to a careful Christian education, that 
 this misapplication of the promises of God is, I fear, 
 extensively injurious. 
 
 Section IV. Ba])thm of Infants not warranted by 
 the Blessing ivhich Christ 'pronounced upon lit- 
 tle Children. 
 
 Many think that the practice of baptizing infants 
 is authorized by the blessing which Jesus pronounced 
 upon the little children who were brought to him. 
 The following is the narrative of the transaction by 
 Mark, Matthew, and Luke : 
 
 "And they brought young children (infants, Luke, 
 xviii., 15) to him, that he should touch them (put 
 his hands on them and pray. Matt., xix., 13). And 
 his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But 
 when Jesus saw it he was much displeased, and 
 (having called them to him, Luke) said unto them, 
 Sufier the little children to come unto me, and for- 
 bid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. 
 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive 
 the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not 
 
CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN. 213 
 
 enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, 
 put his hands upon them, and blessed them," Mark, 
 X., 13-16. 
 
 Of those who brought these infants to Christ we 
 know nothing. They might be parents or other 
 friends, pious or still unconverted ; but, having the 
 children under their charge, they brought them to 
 Jesus to receive his blessing and the benefit of his 
 prayers. Although the disciples of Jesus had bap- 
 tized many converts (John, iii., 22, 26 ; iv., 1), these 
 persons did not bring their children to be baptized, 
 which may lead us to think that infants were not 
 admitted to baptism by our Lord, but that they 
 might receive his benediction ; and when they sought 
 the presence of Jesus for this purpose, they were re- 
 proved by the disciples for so doing. This afibrds 
 evidence that our Lord did not then sanction infant 
 baptism ; for, had he done so, the disciples would 
 not have reproved those who were fulfilling a cus- 
 tomary duty, but would have known it to be his will 
 that infants should be brought to him. Baptism, 
 then, being unthought of by any of the persons con- 
 cerned, the apostles blamed these friends of the chil- 
 dren for seeking to disturb him by their requests for 
 infants and little children, who were beneath his 
 notice. At which Jesus was much displeased, and, 
 calling the children to him, he took them up in his 
 arms, blessed them, and said, " Suffer the little chil- 
 dren to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of 
 such is the kingdom of God." Here four questions 
 meet us. 1. What our Lord meant by " the king- 
 dom of heaven." 2. What is meant by the expres- 
 sion that the kingdom is "of" any persons. 3. Who 
 
214 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARKANTED BY 
 
 are the persons indicated by the word <' such." And, 
 4. How these words were adapted to show the disci- 
 ples that they had unjustly sought to prevent the 
 children from being brought to Christ. 
 
 1. The "kingdom" means generally, if not al- 
 ways, the reign of God over men by his Spirit in 
 earth and in heaven. It does not describe his prov- 
 idential rule over all worlds and all beings, but his 
 spiritual rule over his chosen people, begun on earth 
 and completed in heaven, as the following texts suf- 
 ficiently evince : 
 
 <' From that time Jesus began to preach and to 
 say, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand," Matt., iv., 17. " When he was demanded 
 of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should 
 come, he answered them and said. The kingdom of 
 God Cometh not with observation. . . . Behold, the 
 kingdom of God is within you," Luke, xvii., 20, 21. 
 " The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but 
 righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," 
 Rom., xiv., 17. " The kingdom of God is not in 
 word, but in power," 1 Cor., iv., 20. " The Father 
 hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance 
 of the saints in light ; who hath delivered us from 
 the power of darkness, and hath translated us into 
 the kingdom of his dear Son," Col., i., 13; see, also, 
 Matt., xvi., 28 ; Heb., xii., 28 ; 1 Thess., ii., l2 ; 
 2 Thess., i., 5, &c., &c. 
 
 2. The expression " of such is the kingdom"— 
 Tcjv TOLovTCJV koTLV Tj jBaatXela — means, not that the 
 kingdom is composed of such, but that it belongs to 
 such, it is theirs. The following passages are exact- 
 ly parallel : " Of them is the kingdom, avrC>v sO' 
 
CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN. 215 
 
 Tiv rj (SaaiXeia, Matt., v., 3, 10. " Of thee is the 
 kingdom, aov earlv rj (SacLXeta" Matt., vi., 14. It 
 is common in the New Testament to speak of the 
 kingdom of heaven as a possession. God is said to 
 give it (Luke, xii., 32) ; believers inherit it (Matt., 
 XXV., 34 ; 1 Cor., vi., 9, 10 ; xv., 50 ; James, ii., 
 5) ; they receive it (Mark, x., 15 ; Luke, xviii., 17 ; 
 Heb., xii., 28) ; it belongs to them, Luke, vi., 20. 
 In harmony with which passages this text declares 
 that the kingdom belongs to those whom he men- 
 tions. 
 
 3. The persons indicated by the word *' such" are 
 those who, through grace, are childlike persons, such 
 as little children are, and not the children them- 
 selves. This is shown by the use of the word "such," 
 TOLovTol, in the following passages : " With many 
 such parables, i. e., parables like these, spake he the 
 word unto them," Mark, iv., 33. " Many other 
 such like things ye do," Mark, vii., 8, 13. "Moses 
 in the law commanded us that such, rag roLavra^j 
 persons of this character, should be stoned," John, 
 viii., 5. " They which commit such things, rd rot- 
 avra, i. e., things like these, are worthy of death," 
 Rom., i., 32, " Receive him, therefore, in the Lord 
 with all gladness, and hold such — rovg roLovrovg, 
 persons of this character — in reputation," Phil., ii., 
 29 ; see, also, Rom., ii., 2 ; 1 Cor., vii., 28 ; Gal., 
 v., 21, 23 ; 1 Tim., vi., 5. In all these cases the 
 word " such," with or without the article, does not 
 mean the persons or things previously spoken of, but 
 persons or things like them, including them or not, 
 as the case may be. Hence, in this text, the word 
 " such" must mean persons like children, not the 
 
216 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 children themselves. Had our Lord meant to de- 
 clare that the kingdom belongs to children, he would 
 have said either, " Suffer the little children to come 
 unto me, avrojv yap earlv rj jSaGiXeia, for theirs is 
 the kingdom of heaven;" or else, '• Suffer these chil- 
 dren to come to me, for of such children, roiovrcdv 
 Tracdioyv, is the kingdom." But since he neither 
 specified the children nor said that the kingdom be- 
 longed to them, it is plain that he meant all children 
 should be suffered to come to him, because the king- 
 dom of heaven belongs to persons who are like them. 
 
 Since our Lord declares that children should come 
 to him because the kingdom of heaven <' belongs to 
 such," if by " such" he meant the children, then the 
 kingdom belongs to all children ; it belongs to them, 
 therefore, either before they are brought to Christ, 
 and is the reason why they are to be brought, or 
 else it belongs to them after they are brought. If 
 the former sense be preferred, it follows that all chil- 
 dren are indiscriminately possessed of the kingdom ; 
 for the children in the text are distinguished from 
 no other children except by the fact that they were 
 brought to Christ. Their parents might be godly 
 or ungodly, they might be brought to Christ against 
 the wishes of their parents, and yet they were already 
 possessed of the kingdom of heaven. All children, 
 therefore, are, before coming to Christ, the subjects 
 of grace and the heirs of heaven, and yet, at the 
 same time, they are " children of wrath" (Eph., ii., 
 3), which is absurd. 
 
 If it be objected that these were the children of 
 believers, I answer, the statement is wholly destitute 
 of evidence ; for it is neither said that the persons 
 
CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN. 217 
 
 who brought them to Christ were their parents, nor 
 whether, if they were their parents, they were be- 
 lievers. 
 
 But assuming, without any proof, that they were 
 the children of believers, unless it be maintained 
 against Scripture (John, i., 12), and against innu- 
 merable and undeniable facts, that all the children 
 of all believers are regenerate in infancy before be- 
 ing brought in any sense to Christ, then it can not 
 be said of such children that the kingdom of heaven, 
 is theirs ; for none except believers are the subjects 
 of that kingdom, as the following passages testify : 
 " Except your righteousness shall exceed the right- 
 eousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no 
 case enter the kingdom of heaven," Matt., v., 20. 
 " Except a man be born again, he can not see the 
 kingdom of God. . . , Except a man be born of wa- 
 ter and of the Spirit, he can not enter the kingdom 
 of God," John, iii., 3, 5. " Who hath delivered us 
 from the power of darkness, and hath translated us 
 into the kingdom of his own dear Son," Col., i., 13. 
 
 It may be thought that children are here said to 
 possess the kingdom, not before being brought to 
 Christ, but after being brought to him. Then we 
 have to ask whether any can now be brought to 
 Christ as those children were ; and if the kingdom 
 belongs only to those brought in the arms of their 
 parents or nurses to Christ, whether the statement 
 has any application now ? Assuming, however, that 
 to ask our Lord to bless children, or to bring them 
 to be baptized, is the same thing as bringing them 
 10 him, then the statement is, that all children for 
 whom any persons pray, or whom any persons bring 
 
218 INFANT BAPTISM NOT WARRANTED BY 
 
 to be baptized, are regenerate children, possessed of 
 divine grace and heirs of eternal glory — a conclusion, 
 the extravagance of which is unhappily exposed by 
 the myriads of '< baptized infidels, baptized world- 
 lings, baptized ignorants, baptized formalists, bap- 
 tized profligates, who walk as enemies of the cross 
 of Christ." — Bucld, 76. 
 
 But let us understand our Lord to say that per- 
 sons who are like children are the subjects of his king- 
 dom, and all is plain. Little children are humble 
 and dependent, teachable and patient of reproof, sim- 
 ple, free from art ; such are the dispositions which 
 Christ requires in his disciples, which grace imparts 
 to them, and in having which they are blessed. " Be 
 clothed with humility ; for God resisteth the proud, 
 and giveth grace to the humble," 1 Peter, v., 5. 
 " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the king- 
 dom of heaven," Matt., v., 3. " Except ye be con- 
 verted, and become as little children, ye shall not en- 
 ter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, there- 
 fore, shall humble himself as this little child, the 
 same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven," Matt,, 
 xyiii., 3, 4. "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 And this our Lord immediately explained to be 
 his meaning, saying, " The kingdom of heaven be- 
 longs to such. Whosoever shall not receive the king- 
 dom of God as a little child, he shall not enter there- 
 in ;" that is, "All who are like children will possess 
 the kingdom of heaven, and no others ; for no one 
 can be a subject of Christ except he becomes, through 
 grace, poor in spirit, humble, teachable, guileless, and 
 submissive as a little child." The 15th verse is ex- 
 planatory of the 1 4th. Since every one must receive 
 
CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN. 219 
 
 the kingdom of God as a little child, persons who are 
 like little children alone possess that kingdom ; "of 
 such is the kingdom of God." 
 
 Admitting, further, what can not be admitted, 
 that the word " such" must include children, though 
 it does not exclude others who resemble them, then 
 the text must state that all those who are designated 
 by the word <' such," children or adults, receive the 
 kingdom on the same grounds. Now, since the adults 
 receive it because they have the dispositions of little 
 children, children must receive it too, not because of 
 their birth, or of the prayers of others, but in virtue of 
 these same dispositions. But as adults obtain these 
 dispositions through regenerating grace, and they are 
 the evidence of faith and godliness, while little chil- 
 dren have them naturally, without faith or godliness, 
 they can not of themselves prove that children pos- 
 sess the kingdom of heaven, because, with all their 
 tempers toward their parents and others, they are 
 still, "by nature, children of wrath," Eph., ii., 13. 
 It follows that they can only thus be blessed because 
 these dispositions are very favorable to instruction, 
 and that, when parents and others train up children 
 in the fear of God, with faith and prayer, God very 
 often blesses it to their conversion. This is, indeed, 
 fact. And it may well encourage parents to cheer- 
 ful labor for the conversion of their little children, 
 but declares absolutely nothing respecting infant re- 
 generation, and affords not the slightest warrant for 
 infant baptism. 
 
 4. This statement was well adapted to show the 
 disciples their fault in endeavoring to prevent little 
 children from coming to him. Instead of despising 
 
220 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 them as young, he so loved their humility, simplici- 
 ty, teachableness, sincerity, and submission, that he 
 would admit no one into his service without these 
 dispositions ; and if these dispositions are so dear to 
 him in all, how could he fail to love them in little 
 children ; how be without a tender sympathy for 
 these little ones in their weakness, and a benevolent 
 wish to bless them ? And these feelings our blessed 
 Lord still retains. Although the doctrine of infant 
 regeneration is contrary to Scripture and refuted by 
 facts, and the baptism of infants is unauthorized and 
 mischievous, yet children may early receive the bless- 
 ing of conversion. Although the friends of these 
 children did not ask for baptism, nor did Jesus grant 
 it, still he blessed them without baptism. And when 
 Christian parents seek by instruction, government, 
 and example, to lead their little children to believe 
 in Christ, and ask him by frequent prayer to bless 
 them, he often blesses them now ; v/hether, like the 
 children in the text, they are unbaptized, or, like 
 the children of this country, they have passed through 
 the form of religious sprinkling. There is much in 
 the text against infant baptism, but there is more to 
 encourage parents to a godly training of their chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Section V. Argument from \ Corinthians,\ii.,\A. 
 
 Some, in their attempts to justify the baptism of 
 infants, have much relied upon the following passage 
 in the first epistle to the Corinthians : " If any broth- 
 er hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased 
 to dwell with him, let him not put her away ; and 
 the woman which hath a husband that believeth 
 
ARGUMENT FROiM 1 COR.,, vii., 14. 221 
 
 not. and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her 
 not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is 
 sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is 
 sanctified by the husband ; else were your children 
 unclean, but now are they holy."=^' 
 
 In the Corinthian Church, some heathens who 
 had become Christians, but whose husbands and 
 
 * 'Hyiacrrat yap 6 uvf/p b aTtiarog kv ry yvvacKi, Kol rjytaaTat 
 7} yvvTj 7) aTTiarog ev tu) uv6pL' kirel upa ru rtKva vficjv uKudaprd 
 tan, vvv 6^ liytd tcrtv, 1 Cor., vii., 14. 
 
 " 'HyiaaraL, is made holy ; dyia^u, to render dyiov, to make 
 clean, to render pure." — Robinson. " To render and declare any 
 thing pure and lawful." — Schleusner. "To purify." — Liddell. 
 Heb., ix., 13 ; 1 Tim., iv., 5. 
 
 'Ev rij, EV tC), kv, "by means of." — Robinson. Matt., ix., 34; 
 Acts, iii., 25 ; iv., 9 ; Gal., iii., 8 ; Heb., i., 1. " 'Ei-, through, when 
 a mean or cause is assigned." — Matthice. 
 
 " 'Ettsl, otherwise." — Grotius, Bengel, Robinson. " 'ETrei here 
 is otherwise, as often among Greek authors." — Grotius. " It may 
 be rendered ' otherwise' when the clause answering to 'if it be 
 not so' is left out." — Matthim. 
 
 'AKudapra, Acts, x., 13-15, 28; xi., 7-9. Any one is uKudap- 
 Tog with whom a Christian may not innocently associate. 'A«d- 
 dapTog, fc^DD unclean, Lev., v., 2 ; vii., 19 ; xi., 4, 5 ; Numb., xix., 
 
 22; Deut., xiv., 7, 8, 10, 19. " A man was called XD£3 and ctKu- 
 
 •• T 
 
 dapToc, who was expelled from intercourse with the Jews, or one 
 from familiarity with whom the Jews thought that they must 
 wholly abstain." — Schleusner. 
 
 'Ayiog must here be the opposite of uKadaprog, and therefore 
 pure, not defiling, and therefore lawful. " 'kyioq, pure." — Lid- 
 dell. "Pure, clean." — Robinson. 1 Cor., xvi., 2. 
 
 Nw 6e. " Nwi, now, is not here added to mark the time, but 
 has the force of opposition, as vvv, now, is taken afterward, vii., 
 14 ; xii., 20 ; and vvvl, now, afterward, xii., 18 ; 15, 20. So nunc 
 vera is often used by Cicero." — Grotius, on 1 Cor., v., 11 ; John, 
 viii., 40 ; xviii., 36; Rom., vi., 22 ; vii., 6; xv.,23, 25; xvi., 22; 
 1 Cor., v., 11 ; xii., 18, 20 ; xv., 20 ; Gal., iv., 9 ; Eph., ii., 13 ; v., 
 8 ; Col., iii., 8 ; James, iv., 16 ; Heb., ii., 8 ; ix., 26 ; xi., 16 ; James, 
 iv., 16, &c., &c. 
 
222 INFANT BAPTI6M. 
 
 wives remained heathens, doubted whether it was 
 lawful still to live with their idolatrous partners. 
 When God gave Eve to Adam, he blessed their 
 marriage, Gen., i., 27, 28 ; ii., 18.^. The reason 
 why he gave but one wife to Adam was, that the 
 evils of polygamy being avoided, their children 
 might be trained up in godliness, Mai., ii., 14, 15. 
 Could this blessing rest upon a Christian living with 
 a heathen ? When God gave his law to Israel, 
 each Israelite was forbidden to marry a heathen, 
 Deut., vii., 1—6. When such marriages took place, 
 the Israelites were corrupted by them, and punished 
 for them, Jud., iii., 5—8. Ezra forced those who 
 had married heathen wives in his day to renounce 
 them (Ezra, ix., 1, 2, 6—10, 12, 14); and Nehe- 
 miah acted in a similar manner, Neh., xiii., 23—25. 
 At the time when this epistle was written, Jews 
 thought it "an unlawful thing for them to keep 
 company or come unto one of another nation," be- 
 cause they considered heathens to be unclean. Acts, 
 X., 28. Christians, therefore, might naturally ask 
 themselves whether they could lawfully and piously 
 live with heathen partners, and whether those heathen 
 partners were not to them <^' unclean." The Apostle 
 Paul, with whose doctrine the Corinthians were fa- 
 miliar, taught that Christians should have no famil- 
 iar association with the heathen (2 Cor., vi., 14), 
 and allowed no marriages with them, 1 Cor., vii., 
 39. Ought not, therefore, the Christian husband 
 to leave his heathen wife, and the Christian wife to 
 leave her heathen husband ? Was not such marriage, 
 
 * " Liberi vestri sunt O^llt'Dj recti, mundi, Deo grati." — Gro- 
 tius. 
 
ARGUMENT FROM 1 COR., vii., 14. 223 
 
 though valid according to human law, unlawful l)e- 
 fore God, impure and unholy? Ezra, ix., 11 ; Acts, 
 X., 28. The apostle decided that it was not. In the 
 first Epistle to Timothy, Paul has said, " Every creat- 
 ure of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it 
 be received with thanksgiving ; for it is sanctified, 
 i. e., made pure and lawful to the Christian, by the 
 word of God and prayer," 1 Tim., iv., 4, 5. As, 
 then, all kind of food was made pure and lawful to 
 the Christian by a godly use of it and by prayer, so 
 the heathen husband was made pure and lawful to 
 the Christian wife by her godly and prayerful asso- 
 ciation with him, and the heathen wife was made 
 pure and lawful to the Christian husband by his 
 godly and prayerful association with her. In each 
 case the union became pure and lawful, because, 
 like the food, it was made so by the godly use of it, 
 the thanks and the prayers of the Christian partner. 
 It was holy, that is, pure, like the "holy kiss" of the 
 Corinthian Church (2 Cor., xiii., 12) ; it was " un- 
 defiled" (Heb., xiii., 4), because agreeable to the 
 will of God.* Were it otherwise, their children, 
 as the children of an unlawful union, would be, like 
 the heathen, unclean, and they could no more ask a 
 blessing on them than a person living in adultery 
 could ask a blessing on the children of adultery. 
 For God once said to Israel, " I am a jealous God, 
 visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children 
 
 * " As the use of food is sanctified by prayer and giving of 
 thanks (1 Tim., iv., 5), i. e., is rendered acceptable to God, so is 
 the marriage union, on account of the piety which the Christian 
 partner exercises in that relation. Apud Hebraeos dicitur uxor 
 viro sanctificah per arrham, scripturam concubitum, i. e., fieri le- 
 gitima conjux."— G-Vo^ms. 
 
224 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 unto the third and fourth generations of them that 
 hate me," Exod., xx., 5. And when the IsraeHtes 
 fell into idolatry, he said of the whole nation, "I 
 will not have mercy upon her children, for they are 
 the children of whoredoms," Hos., ii., 4. For "the 
 curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked," 
 Prov., iii., 33. But, on the contrary, the children 
 of these mixed marriages were not to be looked on as 
 unclean, and the Christian parent might ask God's 
 blessing on them. By this argument the apostle 
 both satisfied the conscience of a Christian parent, 
 whose parental love would lead him speedily to rec- 
 ognize the truth of so comfortable a doctrine, and 
 rendered him patient when he saw his wife adhering 
 to idolatry, as the partner of his life whom the di- 
 vine law bade him to bear with, to cherish, and, if 
 possible, to convert. The passage has, therefore, no 
 reference either to baptism or to the spiritual char- 
 acter of the children spoken of, declaring simply 
 that they were, with reference to the law of God, 
 as well as with reference to the law of man, legit- 
 imate children. 
 
 But if this interpretation be wholly rejected, and 
 any other substituted which the words may bear, it 
 is abundantly clear that the holiness here ascribed 
 to children is not such as could entitle them to bap- 
 tism. 
 
 It has been said that the holiness of the children 
 means simply that they are become Christians, and 
 that the uncleanness spoken of is paganism, because 
 pagans were esteemed by the Jews unclean. Let 
 us, then, substitute these words for the words of the 
 text, as their equivalents. " The unbelieving hus- 
 
ARGUMENT FROM 1 COR., vH., 14. 225 
 
 band is made a Christian by the wife, and the un- 
 believing wife is made a Christian by the husband. 
 Else were your children pagans, but now are they 
 Christians.' Here it is said, 1. That a heathen 
 remaining a heathen is made a Christian; 2. That 
 if a heathen remains a heathen, his children must 
 be heathens ; 3 . That if a heathen is made a Chris- 
 tian, but still remains in reality a heathen, his chil- 
 dren become Christians : all which is simply ridic- 
 ulous. 
 
 If, on the other hand, we leave the sense of the 
 terms unclean and holy as indefinite as any one 
 can desire, it remains apparent that the holiness 
 spoken of in the text can not entitle the children to 
 baptism. First, as the children of the heathen hus- 
 band are said to be holy, so is he said to be holy ; 
 and if their holiness entitles them to baptism, his 
 holiness must entitle him to it. To make this more 
 certain, it is here declared that their holiness de- 
 pends on his ; if he is unclean, they are unclean ; if he 
 is holy, they are holy. Their holiness being there- 
 fore simply the result of his, can not bo greater than 
 his ; they are holy just as much as he is holy, and 
 no more. But he remains an infidel and a heathen : 
 they have, therefore, no more holiness than an infi- 
 del ; and unless an infidel is, as such, entitled to 
 baptism, his children, as such, are not entitled to it. 
 To build the right of infants to baptism on this 
 foundation, is to destroy, not establish it. All writ- 
 ers are not candid enough to own this, but some 
 who are keen advocates of infant sprinkling have 
 owned it, I will only quote the opinion of Mr. 
 Barnes, as one of the latest. 
 
 P 
 
226 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 " This passage has been often interpreted, and is 
 often adduced to prove that children are 'federally 
 holy,' and that they are entitled to Christian bap- 
 tism on the ground of the faith of one of the par- 
 ents. But against this interpretation there are in- 
 superable objections. 1. The phrase 'federally holy' 
 is unintelligible, and conveys no idea to the great 
 mass of men. It occurs nowhere in the Scriptures, 
 and vi^hat can be meant by it ? 2 . It does not ac- 
 cord with the scope and design of the argument. 
 There is not one word about baptism here, not one 
 allusion to it ; nor does the argument in the remot- 
 est degree bear upon it. The question was not, 
 "whether children should be baptized, but it was, 
 whether there should be a separation between man 
 and wife where the one was a Christian and the 
 other not. Paul states that if such a separation 
 should take place, it would imply that the marriage 
 was improper, and of course the children must be 
 regarded as unclean. When one party is a Chris- 
 tian and the other not, shall there be a separation ? 
 No, says Paul ; if there be such a separation, it 
 must be because the marriage is im2Voper, because 
 it would be wrong to live together under such cir- 
 cumstances. What would follow from this ? Why, 
 that all the children that have been born since the 
 one party became a Christian must be regarded as 
 having been born while a connection existed that 
 was improper, unchristian, and unlawful, and of 
 course they must be regarded as illegitimate. But, 
 says he, you do not believe this yourselves. It fol- 
 lows, therefore, that the connection, according to 
 your own views, is proper. This accords with the 
 
BAPTISM OF HOUSEHOLDS. 227 
 
 meaning of the word unclean, duddapra ; the word 
 will appropriately express the sense of illegitimacy, 
 and the argument, I think, evidently requires this. 
 It may be summed up in a few words : 'Your sep- 
 aration would be a proclamation to all that you re- 
 gard the marriage as invalid and improper. From 
 this it would follow that the offspring of such a mar- 
 riage would be illegitimate. But you are not pre- 
 pared to admit this — you do not believe it. Your 
 children you esteem to be legitimate, and they are 
 so. The marriage tie, therefore, should be regard- 
 ed as binding, and separation as unnecessary and 
 improper. ... I believe infant baptism to be proper 
 and right ; but a good cause should not be made to 
 rest upon feeble supports, nor on forced and unnat- 
 ural interpretations of the Scriptures." — Barnes. 
 
 Section VI. Bcqiiism of Households. 
 
 We find in the New Testament three instances 
 recorded in which whole households were baptized. 
 The first is the baptism of Lydia and her household 
 at Philippi (Acts, xvi.-, 15); the second is that of 
 the jailer and his household at the same place (Acts, 
 xvi., 33) ; and the third is that of the household of 
 Stephanas, 1 Cor., i., 16. From which instances 
 it is inferred that the baptism of families was the 
 general practice of the apostles, that the infants in 
 these families were baptized, and that, therefore, in- 
 fants ought to be baptized now. 
 
 The following considerations show these inferences 
 to be erroneous : 
 
 1. In John, iv., 53, we read of a nobleman whose 
 gon, lying sick at Capernaum, was cured by the 
 
228 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 word of Jesus. " So the father knew that it was 
 at the same hour in which Jesus said unto him, 
 Thy son Uveth, and himself beheved and his whole 
 house." In Acts, x., 2, we read of Cornelius that 
 he was " a devout man, and one that feared God 
 with all his house." In Acts, xvi., 34, it is record- 
 ed of the jailer of Philippi, " He rejoiced, believing 
 in God with all his house." In Acts, xviii., 8, it is 
 said, " Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, be- 
 heved in the Lord with all his house." And in 1 
 Cor., xvi., 15, St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 
 *' Ye know the house of Stephanas . . . that they 
 have addicted themselves to the ministry of the 
 saints." 
 
 Thus three households are said to have been bap- 
 tized, and five households are said to have believed. 
 If, then, because three households were baptized with 
 their heads, households generally, including infants, 
 were baptized when their heads were baptized, so, 
 because five households believed with their heads, 
 households generally, including infants, believed when 
 their heads believed. 
 
 If it be objected, respecting the five believing 
 households, that either they contained no children, 
 or else that children were excluded from the state- 
 ment as being incapable of faith, I reply respecting 
 the three baptized households, either they contained 
 no children, or children were excluded from the 
 statement as being incapable of the faith required in 
 baptism, and therefore unfit to receive the rite. The 
 meaning of the word " household" must be as com- 
 prehensive in the second series of instances as in the 
 first. If children were included in the first, they 
 
BAPTISM OF HOUSEHOLDS. 229^ 
 
 are included in. the second ; if tliey are excluded 
 from the second, they are also excluded from the first ; 
 and, consequently, the baptism of the three house- 
 holds contains no proof that the infants within them, 
 or that any infants, were baptized by the apostles. 
 
 This single consideration destroys the supposed 
 proof that the apostles baptized infants, derived from 
 the baptism of three households by Paul. But let 
 us further consider what is said of these households. 
 If the jailer was baptized with all his house, " He 
 rejoiced, believing in God with all his house" (Acts, 
 xvi., 34) ; if all his family were baptized with him, 
 all believed with him, and with him " exceedingly 
 rejoiced." Like him, they were baptized as believ- 
 ers, none of them, therefore, being infants. If the 
 household of Stephanas was baptized by Paul when 
 he was at Corinth, A.D. 51 (1 Cor., i., 16 ; Acts, 
 xviii., 8—11), six years afterward we find him de- 
 claring, in his letter to the Corinthians, A.D. 57, 
 " I beseech you, brethren (ye know the house of 
 Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia, and 
 that they have addicted themselves to the ministry 
 of the saints), that ye submit yourselves to such and 
 to every one that helpeth with us and laboreth," 1 
 Cor., xvi., 15, 16. Whatever their diaKOvta, or 
 ministry, might be, the Corinthians were called to 
 submit to them as godly ministers ; and it is there- 
 fore clear that they were a household of believers, 
 and not of infants, when they were baptized six 
 years before ; and the baptism of this household 
 afibrds no proof that Paul ever baptized infants. 
 The third baptized household was that of Lydia : 
 of them it is not said that they believed, but neither 
 
230 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 is it said that there were any infants ; and it would 
 obviously be wrong to rest the propriety of baptizing 
 infants upon the assumption that there were infants 
 in that one family, when it is not asserted in the 
 narrative. In truth, it is improbable that there 
 were any infants in it ; for Lydia was either a mar- 
 ried woman whose husband was alive, a widow, or 
 unmarried. If her husband was alive, he was either 
 at Philippi or elsewhere ; if at Philippi, he was not 
 baptized, because, when the household was baptized, 
 his name was not mentioned (15). Her husband, 
 then, remaining an unbeliever, could she ask several 
 Christian preachers to be his guests? (15). Or 
 could she call his house hers without mention of him 
 to these strangers ? It is therefore clear that she 
 was not living with a husband. 2. As she was of 
 the city of Thyatira, i. e., she was probably a citi- 
 zen of that place, generally resident there, she Avas 
 come to Philippi to sell purple cloth. Now is it 
 conceivable, considering heathen morals, Asiatic 
 manners, and the depressed state of women both 
 among Jews and heathens, that her husband would 
 remain elsewhere, and allow his wife to hire a house 
 and carry on business in a foreign city without him ? 
 3. She was therefore either a widow or unmarried. 
 If she was unmarried, there were no baptizable in- 
 fants in her household ; if she was a widow, it is 
 highly improbable that there were any such infants. 
 But, in all cases, she must have had assistants in 
 the business and servants who formed her household, 
 and these were now baptized with her as believers. 
 If it be supposed improbable that the whole family 
 thus at once believed, I must remind the reader that 
 
BAPTISM OF HOUSEHOLDS. 231 
 
 when the nobleman of Capernaum believed, his house 
 believed with him (John, iv., 53) ; so did the house- 
 hold of the jailer (Acts, xvi., 34) ; and so did that 
 of Crispus, Acts, xviii., 8. The household of Lydia, 
 therefore, afibrds no more evidence that infants were 
 baptized by the apostles than the households of the 
 Philippian jailer and of Stephanas. 
 
 Lastly, since the baptism of these three house- 
 holds can only afford a presumption that infants 
 were baptized on the supposition that the whole 
 households were baptized, and since there is no more 
 evidence that they contained infants than that they 
 contained children of all ages and servants of all 
 characters, it follows, that if the infants were bap- 
 tized, the children and servants of all ages and char- 
 acters were baptized too. And the baptism of these 
 three households by Paul is a proof that the apos- 
 tles and ministers of Christ baptized children and 
 servants of all ages and characters in all families in. 
 which the head of the family was baptized, without 
 any regard to their attainments or state of mind, 
 which is absurd. 
 
 With these considerations in his view, who can 
 believe that the baptism of three households by Paul 
 affords any countenance to the practice of infant 
 baptism ? If three households are said to have been 
 baptized, five are said to have believed. Of the 
 three baptized households, two are expressly declared 
 to be composed of believers ; in the third there is 
 reason to believe there were no infants ; and the bap- 
 tism of households, if it justifies the baptism of in- 
 fants, must justify the baptism of boys, young men, 
 and servants of all ages and characters, 
 
232 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 Section VII. Argument in Favor of Infant Bap- 
 tism, from the Fact that there are no Insta^ices 
 in the New Testament of the Children of Chris- 
 tian Parents being baptized upon their own Pro- 
 fession of Faith. 
 
 This argument has "been stated in the following 
 terms : " The term adult baptism is used with two 
 diilerent applications, one denoting the ordinance as 
 administered to a Christian convert from another 
 faith, the other embracing the case of children, who, 
 having grown up under Christian training, are bap- 
 tized on the profession of their faith in Christ." "No 
 case of adult baptism, in the sense in which it is re- 
 pudiated by us and maintained by our opponents, 
 occurs in all the word of God." " Adult baptism, 
 as the feature of their system, is utterly unknown to 
 apostolic practice." " Does the Baptist complain 
 that the period of Scripture history is too short to 
 produce instances of the adult baptism which alone 
 can uphold his theory ? We reply, these instances 
 must be of very slow growth, if the lapse of sixty or 
 seventy years is insufficient to produce one of them." 
 — Wilson, 501. . . 
 
 I admit that there are no instances recorded in 
 the New Testament where the persons baptized are 
 said to be the children of believing parents ; but ev- 
 ery candid person will admit that there was no rea- 
 son to expect such a record, even on the hypothesis 
 that believers alone were baptized in the apostolic 
 churches, when the history of any apostolic church 
 does not extend over a period of ten or more years ; 
 because, according to the practice of Psedo-Baptist 
 
PRACTICE OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES. 233 
 
 churches, children are not baptized upon the faith 
 of their parents after the age at which they can 
 themselves believe, i. e., after the age of five or six 
 years, and few young persons before the age of fif- 
 teen or sixteen years would be sufficiently establish- 
 ed in Christian principles to be admitted to make 
 public profession of faith themselves. If, therefore, 
 at the time when a Church was formed, children 
 were above five years of age, according to the ac- 
 knowledgment of all, they should be baptized upon 
 their own profession. Our whole inquiry is restrict- 
 ed, therefore, to those who were at the time that the 
 Church was formed under six years of age ; and as 
 few young persons would be admitted to make a 
 public profession of their faith before the age of six- 
 teen, we could look for the baptism of no believers 
 being children of believers, till, at the earliest, after 
 the Church had existed ten years. 
 
 2. Since all believers were to be baptized as a 
 matter of course, the baptism of the believing chil- 
 dren of believers would not be noticed, except in re- 
 markable cases. 
 
 3. We can expect no record of the baptism of the 
 children of believers when other baptisms are not 
 mentioned, the baptism of the whole Church being 
 every way more remarkable than the baptism of a 
 few members who had received a Christian education. 
 
 The silence, then, of the New Testament respect- 
 ing the baptism of the believing children of Chris- 
 tians in any church, is no argument against the cus- 
 tom of baptizing such children, when either the his- 
 tory of the Church does not extend over more than 
 ten years, or the cases of such believing children 
 
234 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 were not remarkable, or when there is no mention 
 whatever of baptism in that church. Tried by these 
 rules, the silence of the New Testament respecting 
 the baptism of the believing children of Christians is 
 consistent with the fact of those baptisms in all the 
 apostolic churches. 
 
 The Church of Jerusalem was formed A.D. 33, 
 and the Epistle to the Hebrews was written by the 
 Apostle Paul about A.D. 62, that is, nearly twenty- 
 nine years after Pentecost ; there was, therefore, 
 time for the baptism of many children of believing 
 parents. But Paul never exercised his ministry in 
 that Church, would know nothing of the details of 
 its particular baptisms, and does not mention any 
 case of baptism within it ; nor does the historian 
 Luke mention any which took place after the day 
 of Pentecost. If, therefore, the silence of the New 
 Testament respecting the baptism of the believing 
 children of believers is a proof that they were not 
 baptized, its silence respecting the baptism of infants 
 and the baptism of converts is a proof that they were 
 not baptized. And this is the Church of whose his- 
 tory we know the most. The argument, therefore, 
 against the baptism of the believing children of 
 Christians proves, if valid, that there was no bap- 
 tism whatever in the apostolic churches, and is there- 
 fore false. Nevertheless, let us glance at the notices 
 in the New Testament of o,ther churches. 
 
 The Church of Antioch was founded A.D. 41 
 (Acts, xi., 42), and no baptisms are mentioned ; the 
 churches of Galatia were formed A.D. 50 (Acts, 
 xvi., 6), and the epistle to these churches was writ- 
 ten A.D. 51: we have no further mention of them. 
 
PRACTICE OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES. 235 
 
 There was, therefore, no opportunity, within the 
 time of the Scripture record, for the baptism of the 
 beheving children of Christians. 
 
 The Church of Colosse was formed, perhaps, A.D. 
 50 (Acts, xvi., 6), perhaps later ; the Epistle to the 
 Colossians was written A.D. 62 ; there was no time, 
 therefore, for the baptisms in question. Paul had 
 no knowledge of the details of the Church, and no 
 occasion to mention the baptisms of any individuals. 
 
 The Church of Philippi was formed A.D. 50, 
 Acts, xvi. The last visit of Paul to it took place 
 A.D. 58, Acts, XX., 6. The epistle to that church 
 was written A.D. 62. So that there was neither 
 time for the baptisms in question, nor any occasion 
 for mentfoning them if they had occurred. 
 
 The Church of the Thessalonians was formed 
 A.D. 51, Acts, xvii., 1. The epistles to the Thes- 
 salonians were written A.D. 51 and 52, and we 
 have no later notices of that church, so that there 
 could be no mention of the baptisms in question with 
 reference to it. 
 
 The first visit of the Apostle Paul to Corinth was 
 A.D. 51 ; the first epistle to that Church was writ- 
 ten A.D. 57, the second A.D. 58 ; within the space 
 between the earliest and latest notice of that church 
 in the New Testament there could be no such bap- 
 tisms. 
 
 The Church of Ephesus was formed A.D. 55 
 (Acts, xix., 1—10); the Epistle to the Ephesians 
 was written A.D. 61 ; there was, therefore, no op- 
 portunity for any such baptisms within the space of 
 the sacred record. 
 
 The Church of Rome was unknown to the Apos- 
 
236 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 tie Paul when he wrote his epistle, A.D. 58. When 
 he was at Rome, A.D. 62 (Acts, xxviii.), he was a 
 prisoner. The narrative in the Acts mentions no 
 baptisms whatever, nor do the notices of Rome by 
 the apostle himself in any of his epistles mention 
 them. 
 
 The churches of Asia Minor were formed between 
 A.D. 50 and A.D. 55 (Acts, xvi., 6, 7 ; xix., 1-10) ; 
 and the First Epistle of Peter was written A.D. 65, 
 from Babylon, 1 Pet., v., 13. The short space be- 
 tween these two dates does not aflbrd occasion for 
 such baptisms ; and if it had, how should the apos- 
 tle know them at that distance ? In these church- 
 es, within the time of the sacred record, there was 
 no probability of such baptisms, and no opportunity 
 for mentioning them. Lastly, the epistles of James, 
 John, and Jude make no mention of any baptisms 
 whatever. 
 
 In all cases, the silence of Scripture respecting 
 the baptism of the believing children of Christians is 
 sufficiently accounted for. In some cases there was 
 no time for such baptisms within the period of the 
 New Testament notice of the Church, in others there 
 was no mention of any baptisms. In the first of 
 these cases there could be no record of such baptisms, 
 because there was no opportunity for the baptisms 
 themselves. In the second case, if the silence of 
 Scripture respecting this class of baptisms is a proof 
 that they did not take place, then its silence respect- 
 ing all baptisms is proof that they also were never 
 performed. But if so, the churches of Galatia, An- 
 tioch, and Thessalonica were unbaptized ; if, on the 
 contrary, these churches were baptized, although 
 
PRACTICE OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES. 237 
 
 there was no record of their baptisms, so might the 
 beUeving children of parents be baptized without 
 there being any record of it. So, also, if the silence 
 of Scripture respecting these baptisms in any church 
 be an argument against their existence, so the silence 
 of Scripture respecting the Lord's Supper is an ar- 
 gument that they never received it. And if these 
 arguments are clearly false, so is that which reasons, 
 from an analogous silence, that there were no bap- 
 tisms of the believing children of believers. 
 
 But is it equally easy to account for the total si- 
 lence of Scripture respecting the baptism of infants ? 
 Few, in the short periods embraced by the New 
 Testament notices of different churches, could have 
 been baptized as believers who had Christian parents, 
 but within the same period there m.ust have been 
 many infants of such parents. The Church received 
 no perceptible enlargement from the first of these 
 classes ; but if infants were baptized, they must in 
 a few years have formed the majority in each church. 
 Is it possible that their baptisms should be wholly 
 overlooked ? 
 
 When it was recorded that three thousand were 
 baptized on the day of Pentecost, could the remark- 
 able fact that three hundred or four hundred chil- 
 dren, if not more, were baptized with them, be over- 
 looked if it had really happened ? In the narrative 
 of the conversion of the Samaritans, it is recorded 
 that women were baptized as well as men (Acts, 
 viii., 12) ; if their children had been also baptized, 
 could this important fact have been overlooked ? At 
 the formation of the Corinthian Church, " Many of 
 the Corinthians," it is said, "beheved and were bap- 
 
238 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 tized ;" but not a word is said of their children, 
 jilcts, xviii., 8- 
 
 This silence respecting the baptism of infants af- 
 fords the stronger evidence that infants were not 
 then baptized, because, had they been required to 
 be baptized, the churches needed information on so 
 many points respecting it. The rule respecting the 
 baptism of believing children of Christians was plain 
 — they were to be baptized as all others ; but what 
 was to be the rule adopted by the churches for the 
 baptism of infants ? Were the infants of true be- 
 lievers alone to be baptized, or the infants of all bap- 
 tized persons alone, or the infants of heathens ? At 
 what age were children to be baptized on their own 
 profession of faith ? Were infants to be baptized as 
 already regenerate through the faith of their parents, 
 or were they to receive regeneration through bap- 
 tism ; or, without receiving regeneration before or 
 after baptism, were they to be received as catechu- 
 mens ? Might infants be baptized without any 
 pledge from their friends that they should have a 
 Christian education, or must such a pledge be given ? 
 When believers were baptized, they were baptized 
 for the remission of sins, and their baptismal confes- 
 sion of Christ saved them : were these effects to fol- 
 low the baptism of infants ? On these and similar 
 points the churches much needed information, if they 
 were to baptize their infants, and on these points they 
 did not receive from one apostolical epistle the least 
 ray of light : they were left absolutely and entirely 
 to conjecture. And, lastly, after parents had bap- 
 tized their children, what could be more useful or 
 more necessary than to recall to Christian parents 
 
PRACTICE OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES. 239 
 
 the stipulations which they had made for their chil- 
 dren at the time of their baptism ? Yet this is not 
 once done. Not unfreqiiently are the members of 
 churches reminded of their own baptism, with the 
 duties implied in that solemn act ; but never once 
 in the New Testament does one of the writers re- 
 mind any one of the churches of their dedication of 
 their children in baptism. The duties of parents to 
 children are enforced in several epistles, but among 
 these duties the obligations entailed on them by the 
 baptism of their infants are never once adverted to. 
 
 These facts are incompatible with the supposition 
 that the apostles baptized infants, and therefore prove 
 that infants ought not to be baptized now. 
 
 To the foregoing evidence let me add the fallow- 
 ing passage in the First Epistle of Peter, addressed 
 to the churches of Asia Minor : " Baptism doth now 
 save us ; not the putting away of the filth of the 
 flesh, but the inquiry after God of a good conscience, 
 avvetdrjaecjg dyadrig kTiepG)T7]ixa slg Gedv," 1 Pet., 
 iii., 23r.^ According to this passage. Christian bap- 
 tism is the seeking after God with an earnest and 
 
 * " 'Errepwraw {to XPV^T^pi-OV, rbv Qeov), to inquire of, to con- 
 sult." — Liddell. It is the word used by the Septuagint for Vf^lt 
 to seek, e.g., Ezek., xx., 1, 2; and for ^Nt^j to inquire after; 
 Deut., iv., 32 ; Josh., ix., 14 ; Jud., i., 1 ; 1 Kings, xiv., 37 ; Isa., 
 XXX., 2. ■"ETrepuracj elg Tiva is to inquire after any one, as krce- 
 puTTjae AajSiS elg eiprjvrjv 'lo)u(3, Kol sig elpjjvrjv tov 2,aov, 2 Sam., 
 ii., 2 ; therefore eTTepuraeiv elg Qebv is to inquire after God, and 
 E7Z£po}~r]fj.a elg Qebv is an inquiry after God. In a similar sense it 
 is used in Dan., iv., 17, for }<nSXky> a demand ; and the inquiry 
 
 T : — ; 
 
 after God of a good conscience is the inquiry after God made by 
 any one, 1. with sincerity and uprightness, Acts, xxiii., 1 ; xxiv., 
 16; 2 Cor., i., 12; 1 Tim., i., 5, 19; iii., 9 ; 2 Tim., i., 3; Heb., 
 xiii., 18 ; 1 Pet., iii., 16 (a good conscience being opposed to a de- 
 
240 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 upright mind, and with the sense of pardon through 
 the blood of Jesus Christ ; and the apostle describes 
 the churches of Asia Minor as saved by this baptism. 
 But this is evidently the baptism of believers, not the 
 baptism of infants ; for how, in that case, can bap- 
 tism be the " seeking after God with a good con- 
 science ?" In all these churches, the only baptism 
 recognized by the apostle is such a baptism as in- 
 volves the seeking after God with a good conscience, 
 and such as leads to salvation (Isaiah, Iv., 6, 7 ; 
 Matt., vii., 7), that is, the baptism of believers. Now 
 these churches were founded between A.D. 50 and 
 A.D. 55 (Acts, xvi., 6, 7 ; xix., 1, 10), and the Epis- 
 tle of Peter was written about A.D. 65. If infants 
 were baptized during these fifteen years, a part of 
 each church, and in some cases, perhaps, the larger 
 part, would be composed of members baptized in in- 
 fancy. How, in such case, could the apostle, when 
 speaking of baptism, entirely overlook the baptisms 
 of so many ? But he does completely overlook them, 
 and speaks of the baptism of them all as though it 
 had been in every case the baptism of believers. One 
 of the latest writings in the New Testament recog- 
 nizes nothing in the churches but the baptism of be- 
 lievers. The last time that baptism is mentioned 
 by any apostle, his Words indicate that all the bap- 
 tized, whether adult converts or the children of Chris- 
 tians, were believers, who, in baptism, heartily sought 
 the Lord, and who, in so doing, were saved. Is this 
 compatible with the practice of infant baptism in the 
 apostolic churches ? 
 
 filed conscience, Tit., i., 5) ; and, 2. with a sense of pardon through 
 the blood of Christ, Heb., xi., 14 ; x., 2, 22. 
 
PRACTICE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 241 
 
 Section VIII. Argument on helialf of Infant Bap- 
 tism, from the Practice of the Churches in the 
 first Three Centuries. 
 
 Another proof that the apostles practiced infant 
 baptism has been sought in the practice of the church- 
 es during the first three centuries. The argument 
 has been stated in the following terms : "According 
 
 ' to the theory of the Baptist brethren, baptism alone 
 was the order of the day in the age which immedi- 
 ately succeeded the apostolic. What followed ? 
 Infant baptism. At all events, its introduction must 
 have had some date ; and the later that date, its 
 struggle with adult baptism must have been the 
 more severe, and a record of the struggle the more 
 certain." " Our opponents can not detect among 
 the fathers of these centuries the origin of infant 
 baptism. They denounce it as an abuse, a subver- 
 sion of the law of Christ, a substitution of human 
 device for the ordinance of God. Strange, that of 
 the origin of an abuse so radical, so prevalent, and 
 so permanent, no record should be found. The ex- 
 tent to which infant baptism is known to have pre- 
 vailed in the third century is to us unaccountable on 
 Baptist principles. If adult baptism, in their sense 
 
 ^ of the term, was alone apostolic, how came infant 
 baptism in so short a time to be the practice, not of 
 one church, but of all the churches ?" — Wilson^ 
 526-539. 
 
 I reply. That we may conclude the baptism of 
 infants to be a corruption in the churches unknown 
 to the apostles, 1. Because there is no mention of 
 it till the third century. 2. Because the corruption 
 
 Q 
 
242 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 of infant communion was as early and as extensive 
 as that of infant baptism. And, 3. Because the ori- 
 gin of both corruptions was obviously identical. 
 
 First, the7'e is no onention of infant haptimn till 
 the third ce^itury. If there be, we may surely find 
 it in the pages of the learned Bingham, who did his 
 best to uphold this practice. Now the only testi- 
 monies which he cites from authors of the first two 
 centuries are the following : 
 
 '•'■ Clemens Romanus, who lived in the times of 
 the apostles, though he does not directly mention in- 
 fant baptism, yet says a thing that by consequence 
 proves it. Speaking of Job, he says, « Though he 
 was a just man, yet he condemns himself, saying, 
 There is none free from pollution, though his life be 
 but the length of one day.' " Therefore, infants 
 were baptized in the time of Clemens I I — Bitig- 
 ham, iii., 158. 
 
 Justin Ma7'tyr, A.D. 148. ''Many men and 
 many women, sixty and seventy years of age, who, 
 from their childhood, have been disciples to Christ, 
 continue uncorrupted."* Because Justin says that 
 God was pleased to convert many children by his 
 grace, therefore infants were baptized in his day I ! 
 
 Bay'desanes Syrus, cotemporary of Justin, says, 
 " The man that is regenerated by water, and born 
 again to God, is thereby freed from the weakness of 
 his first nativity, which comes to him from man ; 
 and so he is made capable of salvation, which he 
 could not otherwise obtain. For so the true prophet 
 
 * TloTl'koL TLVEQ KOl TZOl.'kai ij^rjKOVTOVTaL KOi i36o/Ll7]KOVTOVTai 
 
 ol £/c naidijv eixadrjTevGav tu) Xpiaru, u(p6opoL dLafiivovaL.—^ 
 Apol.y ii., p. 62 ; Bing., iii., 160. 
 
PRACTICE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 243 
 
 has testified with an oath, saying, • Verily, I say 
 imto you. Except one be born again of water, he 
 shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' " 
 Therefore, in the time of Bardesanes, infants were 
 undoubtedly baptized I ! 
 
 IrencBus was born about A.D, 97 ; was a disci- 
 ple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John. He 
 wrote about A.D. 176, "Christ came to save all 
 persons by himself; all, I say, who by him are born 
 again unto God, infants, and little ones, and boys, 
 and youths, and elders. Therefore he passed through 
 each age, being made an infant for infants, sanctify- 
 ing infants ; among little ones a little one, sanctify- 
 ing those of that age also," &c.* Irenseus says that 
 some infants are born again through Christ, and 
 sanctified by him ; therefore, all infants were bap- 
 tized in his day I I 
 
 Tertidlian, who w^as born A.D. 160, and died 
 A.D. 220, wrote about the beginning of the third 
 century, as follows : " According to every one's con- 
 dition, disposition, and age, the delay of baptism is 
 more advantageous, especially in the case of little 
 children. Our Lord says, indeed, < Do not forbid 
 them to come unto me.' Let them come, therefore, 
 when they are grown up ; let them come when they 
 can learn, when they can be taught whether it is 
 they come. Let them be made Christians when 
 
 * " Omnes venit per semetipsum salvare, omnes, inquam, qui 
 per eum renascuntur in Deum, infantes et parvulos, et pueros, et 
 juvenes, et seniores. Ideo per omnem venit aptatem, et infantibus 
 infans factus, sanctificans infantes ; in parvulis parvulus, sanctifi- 
 cans banc ipsam habentes Ktatem," &c. — Jrenasus, lib. ii., 39; 
 Bingham, iii., 164. 
 
244 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 they can know Christ."^ Tertullian says, Let bap- 
 tism not be administered to little children, not a syl- 
 lable being uttered by any previous writer to intimate 
 that they were baptized ; therefore the baptism of 
 infants was universal in the time of Tertullian ! I 
 Until the time of Tertullian, therefore, that is, dur- 
 ing the whole second century, there is no record of 
 infant baptism ; and in Tertullian' s time, the only 
 proof that it was beginning to be practiced was the 
 argument of Tertullian against it. 
 
 But Onge?t, who lived in the third century, shows 
 that it had become the practice of his day by the 
 following expressions : * « Infants are baptized for the 
 forgiveness of sins." " And because by the sacra- 
 ment of baptism the pollutions of our birth are laid 
 aside, therefore even little ones are baptized." " The 
 Church hath received from apostles the tradition 
 that baptism should be given even to little ones."! 
 The practice which was growing in the time of Ter- 
 tullian was become general in the time of Origen. 
 
 This is the whole of the evidence in favor of in- 
 fant baptism up to the third century. During the 
 first two centuries there is no symptom of it, not a 
 line written in its favor. Early in the third century 
 
 * "Pro cujusque personae conditione ac disppsitione, etiam 
 aetate cunctatio baptismi utilior est praecipue tamen circa parvu- 
 los. . . . Ait quidem Dominus, NoUite illos prohibere ad me venire, 
 veniant ergo durn adolescunt, veniant dum discunt, duni quo ve- 
 niunt docentur ; fiant Christiani, dum Christum nosse potuerint." 
 — Tertullian de Baptismo : Bingham, iii., 165. 
 
 t " Parvuli baptizantur in remissionem peccatomm. . . . Et quia 
 per baptismi sacramentum nativitatis sordes deponuntur, propte- 
 rea baptizantur et parvuli. . . . Ecclesia ab apostolis traditionem 
 suscepit etiam parvulis baptismum dare." — Origen : Bingham, iii., 
 167. 
 
PRACTICE OF THE PRL^IITIVE CHURCH. 245 
 
 Tertullian opposed it, and later in the same century 
 Origen speaks of it as an established custom. These 
 facts seem to me to justify the judgment of Suicer : 
 " For the first two centuries no one received baptism 
 except those who, being instructed in the faith and 
 imbued with the doctrine of Christ, could testify that 
 they believed : on account of those words, ' He that 
 believeth and is baptized.' Afterward the opinion 
 prevailed that no one could be saved without being 
 baptized."* 
 
 II. Since it is asked how it was possible for in- 
 fant baptism, if it was indeed a corruption intro- 
 duced subsequently to the age of the apostles, to be- 
 gin so early, become so universal, last so long, and 
 occasion no record of its origin, I answer, that infant 
 communion, which all admit to be a corruption, was 
 introduced as early, became as general, lasted *for 
 centuries, and grew up as silently. Of this let us 
 now see the proofs. 
 
 1. The practice of giving the Lord's Supper to 
 infants grew up early in the churches. "It is be- 
 yond dispute that as she (the Church) baptized in- 
 fants, so she immediately admitted them to a par- 
 ticipation of the Eucharist as soon as they were bap- 
 tized," — Bingham, v., 313. "It is frequently 
 mentioned in Cyprian, Austin, Innocentius, and 
 Gennadius, writers from the third to the fifth cen- 
 tury." — lb., iii., 290. 
 
 * " Primis duobus sasculis nemo baptismum accipiebat nisi qui 
 in fide instructus, et doctrinA Christi imbutus, testari posset se 
 credere, propter ilia verba, ' Qui crediderit et baptizatus' fuerit. 
 Postea opinio invaluit, neminem salvare posse, nisi qui baptiza- 
 tus fuisset." — Suicer in Bingham, iii., 157. 
 
246 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 2. <* Cyprian often mentions it as the common 
 practice." — lb., v., 313. "The author of the 
 ' Constitutions,' in his invitation of the faithful to 
 the communion, bids mothers bring their children 
 with them." " The author under the name of 
 Dionysius says that children were admitted not only 
 to baptism, but to the Eucharist." — lb., v., 314. 
 
 3. Like infant baptism, this lasted long in the 
 churches. " If this matter needed proof, Ave might 
 insist upon that known practice and custom in the 
 ancient Church of giving the Eucharist to infants, 
 which continued in the Church for several ages. 
 Maldonat confesses that it was in the Church for 
 six hundred years ; and some of the authorities just 
 now alleged prove it to have continued two or three 
 ages more." — Bingliain, iii., 290.. *' As soon as 
 th^ ceremonies of baptism were finished, men were 
 admitted to a participation of the Eucharist. And 
 this was observed not only with respect to adult 
 persons, but children also, and this continued to the 
 ninth century." — lb., 332. " This custom was 
 not abrogated in France till the twelfth century." — 
 jTd., 316. " It continued somewhat longer in Ger- 
 many and Switzerland." — lb., 316. "And pre- 
 vailed in the Greek Church down to the fourteenth 
 century." — lb., 317. 
 
 4. Like infant baptism, infant communion was 
 thought to have apostolic sanction. '• It were ab- 
 surd to think that the whole primitive Church, 
 Greek and Latin, from St. Cyprian's time, should 
 give the communion to infants without imagining 
 any manner of necessity from any divine command 
 to do it." — lb., 316. 
 
PRACTICE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 247 
 
 Both these corruptions, which were equally early 
 and extensive in the churches, which lasted for many 
 centuries, and grew up equally in silence, were found- 
 ed oil similar reasons. Children were admitted to 
 the Lord's table because it was thought that they 
 could not be saved without it. 
 
 St. Austin says, " They are children, but they be- 
 come partakers of his table that they may have life."* 
 And Pope Innocent argues for the necessity of bap- 
 tism to infants from the necessity of their eating the 
 flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man.f 
 And there was the same opinion respecting the ne- 
 cessity of baptism to the salvation of infants. Ori- 
 gen says, " Infants are baptized for the forgiveness 
 of sins." " Infants are baptized ; because, except 
 one be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven. "| St. Cyprian 
 and a council of sixty-six bishops determined that 
 an infant comes to baptism " the more easily to re- 
 ceive forgiveness of sins, because they are not his 
 own, but other men's sins which are forgiven him." 
 Upon which Mr, Bingham remarks, " Here we have 
 both the practice of the Church and the reason of 
 it together. Infants were baptized because they 
 were born in original sin, and needed baptism to 
 
 * "Infantes sunt, sed mensae ejus participes fiuntut habeant in 
 se vitam." — Augusti7ie: Bingham, iii., 314. 
 
 t " Parvulos aeternae vitae praemiis etiam sine baptismatis gratii 
 donari posse, per fatuum est nisi enim manducaverint sanguinem 
 ejus non habebunt vitam in semetipsis." — Innocent : Bingham, iii., 
 315. 
 
 X " Baptizantur parvuli. IS'isi enim quis renatus fuerit ea aquA 
 et spiritu non potest intrare in regnum coelorum." — Origen : Bing- 
 ham, iii., 167. 
 
248 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 cleanse them from the guilt and pollution of it." — 
 Bingham, iii., 1G9. 
 
 The origin of the two corruptions in the churches 
 is now apparent. All churches tend to spiritual de- 
 cay, as each individual Christian does ; and the de- 
 terioration, too natural to all churches under any 
 circumstances, was accelerated to these €arly churches 
 by their situation. Surrounded by vice, ignorance, 
 and superstition, with few copies of the Scriptures, 
 and few other useful books, it was too easy to be 
 tainted by the prevailing evils of their day. As 
 piety decreased, their value for the forms of their 
 religion might increase ; and the sacraments, which 
 at first were expressions of faith, became, in the gen- 
 eral estimation, the channels of converting grace. 
 The emblems of the body and blood of Jesus be- 
 came, in the view of multitudes, his body and blood ; 
 the sign of regeneration was now believed to be its 
 source. 
 
 To this exaggerated view of the value of the sac- 
 raments the clergy would be favorable, because, as 
 they alone dispensed these elements, they thus be- 
 came themselves the dispensers of divine grace ; and 
 the opinion of the clergy had the more weight with 
 the churches, because they were probably almost the 
 only educated portion of the Christian community, 
 as, indeed, they were long after in the feudal king- 
 doms of Europe. Thus the clergy aided the popu- 
 lar delusion. Meanwhile, passages which speak in 
 exalted terms of the value of baptism, when it is the 
 public expression of a saving faith, were supposed to 
 speak of the intrinsic efficacy of the rite itself To 
 receive the Lord's Supper was to eat the flesh and 
 
PRACTICE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 249 
 
 to drink the blood of the Son of Man, and thereby 
 to secure eternal life (John, vi., 53—55) ; and bap- 
 tism was supposed to regenerate. Up to that time 
 believers alone were baptized ; but now two things 
 naturally followed from this state of opinion. As 
 the sacraments were thought to save those who re- 
 ceived them, worldly and unconverted men sought 
 to receive them as nearly as possible to the hour of 
 death ; when they could entail little self-denial, and 
 when their saving effects could not be neutralized 
 by subsequent sins. Many, therefore, postponed 
 their baptism, like Constantine, to the hour when 
 death seemed to be approaching. On the other 
 hand, these sources of salvation could no longer be 
 justly withheld from infants. Unless children, like 
 others, were born of water and the Spirit, they could 
 not, as men supposed, enter the kingdom of God, 
 and baptism would regenerate them ; how could 
 baptism be refused to them without cruelty ? Un- 
 less children, like others, ate the flesh of Jesus 
 and drank his blood, they had no life ; and to eat 
 his flesh would secure their everlasting life : what 
 minister eould refuse it to them ? And so the ad- 
 mission of children to the sacraments was the nat- 
 ural corollary of the doctrine that the sacraments 
 were intended to save men. This is the explana- 
 tion of the origin of infant baptism given by Suicer, 
 who says, " The doctrine of the necessity of baptism 
 to salvation was not the doctrme of the first two 
 ages, but only an opinion taken up afterward ; upon 
 which foundation the practice of infant baptism was 
 introduced into the Church." — Bingham, iii., 163. 
 The general prevalence and long duration of in- 
 
250 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 fant baptism appear thus to be no arguments for its 
 authority or lawfuhiess. The practice of infant com- 
 munion crept into the churches as early, prevailed 
 as extensively, endured for centuries, triumphed as 
 silently, and was embraced on the same grounds. 
 The one bears exactly the same authority as the 
 other. If the churches are bound to maintain in- 
 fant baptism, they are bound to sanction infant com- 
 munion too. If they have done right in discontin- 
 uing infant communion, they must have equal liber- 
 ty to discard infant baptism. And so Mr. Bingham, 
 in effect, judges : " As no church," he says, " now 
 thinks herself under any obligation to give the Eu- 
 charist to infants, because the primitive Church for 
 eight hundred years did so, so neither does any 
 church judge herself bound to give confirmation to 
 infants from the same example." — Bingham, iii., 
 296. And if both infant communion and infant con- 
 firmation have been generally repudiated, notwith- 
 standing the general practice of the early church- 
 es, so infant baptism, which is strictly similar, and 
 sprang up from the same motives, ought to be re- 
 jected, notwithstanding that it has the same gener- 
 al practice to sanction it. 
 
 Section IX. Tlie Argument in favor of Infant 
 Baptism derived from the Number of those who 
 practice it. 
 
 The argument in favor of any doctrine from the 
 numbers who support it is extremely uncertain. In 
 very many instances truth has had to struggle against 
 majorities. There were very few Christians and 
 many heathens when the apostles, aided by God, 
 
NUMBER WHO PRACTICE IT. 251 
 
 undertook to evangelize the world. Even now two 
 hundred and fifty millions of professed Christians are 
 few when compared with seven hundred millions 
 of idolaters and Mohammedans. Of these professed 
 Christians not one third arc Protestants. Of these 
 Protestants, how few profess to believe the great doc- 
 trines of grace ; how few support Bible and mission- 
 ary societies ; how few condemn the union of the 
 Church with the State ; how few are Congregation- 
 alists ; how few are true believers I " Wide is the 
 gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruc- 
 tion, and many there be which go in thereat : be- 
 cause strait is the gale, and narrow is the way, 
 which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find 
 it." If Baptists are few, so have other classes been 
 few, which have maintained, or do maintain, unpop- 
 ular truths. In investigating the evidence for any 
 doctrine, we should not dwell too much upon the 
 numbers on either side, nor even upon, what is of 
 more consequence, their character and talent, but 
 rather ask the direct proof from Scripture, and the 
 reasonableness of the doctrine itself. Truth has often 
 been found for a long time with the few against the 
 many, though the many must eventually yield to it. 
 
 But the numbers of those who maintain that be- 
 lievers alone ought to be baptized, as compared with 
 those who hold any other specific doctrine respect- 
 ing Christian baptism, is not so small as is often as- 
 sumed. 
 
 Compared with all other evangelical churches, 
 the number of Baptist churches may be few. But 
 when all Pecdo-Baptists are grouped into one multi- 
 tude on one side, in opposition to the Baptists on 
 
252 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 the other, the contrast is superficial and dehisive, 
 the grounds upon which one class support infant 
 baptism being so contradictory to those advanced 
 by another class as to afford strong presumption 
 against the truth of the doctrine which they jointly 
 maintain. 
 
 The doctrine that believers ought to be baptized 
 is maintained by almost all the Christian world 
 upon the same grounds, namely, that Christ has 
 commanded it, and that it was practiced by the 
 apostles. All classes of Paedo-Baptists agree with 
 Baptists in this ; but when we examine upon what 
 the belief of infant baptism rests, we find no such 
 consent among those who practice it. The direct 
 evidence for it in the New Testament so completely 
 fails ; the arguments on its behalf, derived from the 
 baptism of three believing households, from the ho- 
 liness of a union between a Christian and an unbe- 
 liever in certain circumstances, from the kindness 
 of Jesus to little children, and from the promises to 
 parents, are so weak, that though most Psedo-Bap- 
 tist writers adduce them as subsidiary to their argu- 
 ment, few would venture to rest their cause upon 
 them. 
 
 The main grounds upon which the practice rests, 
 and without which it would be discontinued, are 
 thus stated by different classes. Many of the An- 
 glican Psedo-Baptists, and many Episcopalians of 
 the United States, would probably describe them 
 thus: " Sacraments are effectual signs of grace and 
 God's good-will toward us, by the which he doth 
 work invisibly in us," Art. 25. " Baptism is a sign 
 of regeneration or new birth, whereby, as by an m- 
 
NUMBER WHO PRACTICE IT. 253 
 
 strument, they that receive baptism rightly are graft- 
 ed into the Church," Art. 27. " The inward and 
 spiritual grace in baptism is a death unto sin and a 
 new birth unto righteousness ; for being by nature 
 born in sin, and the children of wrath, we are here- 
 by made the children of grace. There are required 
 in persons to be baptized, repentance whereby they 
 forsake sin, and faith whereby they steadfastly be- 
 lieve the promises of God made to them in that 
 sacrament ; but infants are baptized, because they 
 promise both repentance and faith by their sureties ; 
 which promise, when they come to age, themselves 
 are bound to perform." — See Church Cat. " Bap- 
 tism is a sacrament ; and if so, it must convey the 
 grace annexed to it whenever no obstacle is placed 
 in its way by the unworthiness of the recipient. For 
 this has been the notion of the whole Christian 
 Church, that the sacraments are not bare signs, but 
 do convey that also which they signify. Since, then, 
 infants are incapable of opposing any obstacle, we 
 must believe that the grace of baptism, a death unto 
 sin, and a new birth unto righteousness, is hereby 
 conferred upon all who are brought to be ingrafted 
 into their Savior by baptism. . . . And since infants 
 are all alike incapable of opposing the divine benefit, 
 and the willfulness which they might hereafter show 
 has no place there, and God in his word has given 
 us no ground for making any distinction between 
 them, we must conclude, as the whole ancient 
 Church did, that the benefits of holy baptism are, 
 by virtue of the sacrament itself, and of the divine 
 institution, imparted to all infants." — Tract 67. 
 All infants being thus worthy recipients, Canon 68 
 
254 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 consistently enacts, " No minister shall refuse or de- 
 lay to christen any child that is brought to the 
 church to him upon Sundays or holydays to be 
 christened. And if he shall refuse to christen . . . 
 he shall be suspended by the bishop of the diocese 
 from his ministry by the space of three months." 
 Anglicans then rest the right of infants to baptism 
 mainly upon the fact that in some sense or other it 
 regenerates them. 
 
 Against this both Presbyterians and Congrega- 
 tionalists properly protest. According to them, the 
 doctrine of baptismal regeneration is " unscriptural, 
 false, and injurious to the souls of men." " That 
 baptism is not the means of regeneration, appears 
 from the evidence afforded by analogy, by the char- 
 acter of the Gospel, by experience, by the statements 
 and by the omissions of God's holy word." " The 
 common tendency of this doctrine is to lead men to 
 value the material form of religion more than its 
 spiritual essence ; to dispose them to rely on what 
 is done for them by frail and sinful men, rather than 
 on the wisdom and power of Him who is most holy 
 and most merciful ; to foster the presumption of 
 those who are satisfied with themselves, and to de- 
 prive of hope the humble penitent. This is not the 
 tendency of the glorious Gospel of our God and 
 Savior." — Godwin, 377, 396. 
 
 Presbyterians, therefore, and Congregationalists, 
 sometimes state the grounds of infant baptism thus : 
 " Before the coming of Christ, the covenant of grace 
 had been revealed, and under that covenant there 
 existed a divinely instituted connection between 
 children and their parents ; the sign and seal of the 
 
NUMBER WHO PRACTICE IT. 255 
 
 blessings of the covenant was, by divine appoint- 
 ment, administered to children, and there can be 
 produced no satisfactory evidence of this connection 
 having been done away." — Wardlaiv. 
 
 "If it be necessary that adult persons should 
 make a profession of godliness in order to their own 
 admission to baptism, then undoubtedly is it neces- 
 sary in order to their children being baptized on their 
 account ; for parents can not convey to their chil- 
 dren a right to this sacrament by virtue of any 
 qualifications lower than those requisite in order to 
 their own right, children being admitted to baptism 
 only as being, as it were, parts and members of 
 their parents. And besides, the act of parents in 
 offering up their children in a sacrament, which is 
 a seal of the covenant of grace, is in them a solemn 
 attending that sacrament as persons interested in the 
 covenant, and a public manifestation of their ap- 
 proving and consenting to it, as truly as if they had 
 then offered themselves up to God in that ordinance. 
 Indeed, it implies a renewed offering up themselves 
 with their children, and devoting both jointly to 
 God in covenant ; themselves ivith their children 
 as parts of themselves." — Jon. Edwards's Works, 
 vol. i., p. 476. 
 
 Thus this class of Psedo-Baptists found the right 
 of infants to baptism upon their relation to their 
 parents, children being, as it were, parts of their 
 parents, and therefore within the covenant of grace 
 because their parents are. 
 
 But many of the Congregationalists state their 
 reasons for infant baptism in terms like the following : 
 ** The principal argument for restricting baptism to 
 
256 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 the children of believers is founded upon the opinion 
 that as the ancient sign of the covenant was admin- 
 istered to the seed of Abraham in testimony of his 
 faith (the covenant being made vv^ith him and with 
 his seed), so the modem sign of the covenant is to 
 be administered to the seed of believers on account 
 of the faith of their parents. . . . The argument in 
 favor of the transmission of the sign of the Christian 
 covenant from the believing parent to his children, 
 founded upon the transmission of the sign of the 
 Abrahamic covenant through the hereditary line of 
 succession in the posterity of Abraham, fails in al- 
 most every particular. , . . The general opinion that 
 baptism is substituted for circumcision as a kind of 
 hereditary seal of the covenant of grace, appears to 
 be ill sustained by scriptural evidence, and to be ex- 
 posed to some very serious, if not absolutely fatal 
 
 objections A respected writer, indeed, says, 
 
 ' Under that covenant there existed a divinely insti- 
 tuted connection between children and their parents ;' 
 but of this connection, which appears to me to be 
 the hinge of the whole argument, he offers, so far 
 as I can find, no satisfactory evidence, nor even any 
 evidence at all. The sign of the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant was given to every child, as it appears to me, 
 on account, not of his immediate connection with his 
 parents, but of his remote connection with the head 
 of the covenant. . . . Ahaziah was circumcised, not 
 because he was the son of the wicked Ahab, or the 
 more wicked Jezebel, but because he was of the 
 covenanted lineage of the faithful Abraham. . . . 
 The privilege, then, is resolved into the cormection 
 between Abraham and his posterity, and no other 
 
NU3IBER WHO PRACTICE IT. 257 
 
 seems to be recognized in the Abrahamic covenant. 
 . . . The argument of the Abrahamic covenant, if it 
 apply at all, applies to the grandchildren of believers 
 as well as to their children, and so on to the third 
 and fourth generations, and through an infinite se- 
 ries, ... In all arguments which assume any dis- 
 tinction of privileges among children on account of 
 the faith of their parents, we must disclaim all partic- 
 ipation." — Halley, 530, 531, 536, 537, 539, 533. 
 
 Repudiating, then, the supposed connection be- 
 tween parents and children as a spurious ground on 
 which to rest the practice of infant baptism, many 
 Congregationalists would state its grounds thus : 
 " There are those w^ho baptize all applicants what- 
 soever, provided the application does not appear to 
 be made scoffingly and profanely, and all children 
 offered by their parents, guardians, or others, who 
 may have the care of them. . . . The first class main- 
 tain that baptism is exclusively the privilege of true 
 believers ; the second, that by virtue of a covenant 
 relation between parents and children, it belongs also 
 to the children of believers ; the third, that as no 
 restriction is imposed on baptism in the New Testa- 
 ment, none ought to be imposed by the ministers of 
 the Gospel. . . . Our commission is to disciple as 
 many as we can by baptizing and by teaching them. 
 . . . Adhering to the literality of the commission, 
 we admit no exceptions, either in the baptizing or 
 the teaching, regarding the extent of our ability as 
 the only limit of our obedience." — Halley, 496, 
 497, 578. 
 
 But to these a larger class of Presbyterians, with 
 some Congregationalists, would reply, respecting such 
 
 R 
 
258 
 
 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 indiscriminate baptism, " What is the amount of its 
 value to the children of unbelievers ? what the ben- 
 efit they derive from it ? ... I regard these state- 
 ments as not only unscriptural, but perilously so to 
 the constitution and character of the New Testament 
 Church, as tending, if consistently followed out, to un- 
 dermine and destroy it as a spiritual and separate com- 
 munity. . . . The principles avowed, if fairly followed 
 out, go far to obliterate the distinction between the 
 Church and the world." — Wardlaiv, 290, 291,284. 
 
 " A full induction of instances warrants the con- 
 clusion that the New Testament knows no adult 
 baptism irrespective of a credible profession of faith. 
 . . . Dr. H. is of course entitled to hold and defend 
 his opinion, and we are equally entitled to affirm 
 that one more utterly unfounded we have seldom 
 met with." — Wihoji, 375. 
 
 Besides, then, the opinion of the Baptists, there 
 are three distinct and incompatible opinions upon 
 which infant baptism is made to rest by three great 
 classes ; and although no accuracy can be attained 
 on these points, yet let us make an approximate esti- 
 mate of the number of churches espousing these dif- 
 ferent opinions in Great Britain and America. 
 
 Baptist Churches 
 
 Anglicans and Episcopahans naaintaining 
 that baptisna in some sense regenerates 
 children 
 
 Presbyterians maintaining that children are 
 to be baptized on account of the faith of 
 their parents 
 
 Congregationalists maintaining that baptism 
 should be indiscriminate to ail children . . 
 
 Great [United I 
 Britain. I States. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1,825 
 
 13,000 
 
 3,000 
 2.570 
 
 7,130 
 
 950 
 
 3,744 
 
 8,955 
 
 13,950 
 
 6,744 
 
 1,300 3,870 
 
 These figures, though not accurately stating the 
 
NUMBER WHO PRACTICE IT. 
 
 2^9 
 
 present numbers of the churches in Great Britain 
 and the United States, and still less the numbers of 
 these denominations throughout the world, are yet 
 accurate enough to illustrate the argument in favor 
 of infant baptism derived from numbers. 
 
 According to this argument, which I am oppos- 
 ing, the Baptists are wrong in their peculiar opinion, 
 because a majority of Christians are against them. 
 If this be true, then any other class must be in er- 
 ror when the majority are against them. Anglicans 
 and American Episcopalians, who number 13,950 
 churches, must be wrong when they found the right 
 of all infants to baptism on the idea that baptism 
 regenerates, because 19,569 churches of Presbyte- 
 rians, Congregationalists, and Baptists reject that 
 idea. The 6744 Presbyterian churches must be in 
 error when they declare that the children of believ- 
 ers have a right to baptism in virtue of the faith of 
 their parents, all other children being excluded, be- 
 cause 26,775 churches of Episcopalians, Congrega- 
 tionalists, and Baptists deny the transmission of that 
 right from the parent to the child ; and the 3870 
 Congregationalist churches, which advocate the in- 
 discriminate baptism of infants, as a corollary of the 
 indiscriminate baptism of adults, must be in error, 
 because they are opposed in this notion by 29,649 
 churches of Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Bap- 
 tists. May not, then, the Baptists reply with con- 
 fidence to those who say to them, " You are wrong, 
 because you are opposed by the majority," You are 
 all in the same predicament ? Baptismal regener- 
 ation, the Anglican foundation of infant baptism, is 
 erroneous, because it is opposed by the majority of 
 
260 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 Christians. The transmission of the rights of the 
 parent to the child, the Presbyterian foundation, is 
 erroneous, because opposed by the majority ; and the 
 right of all serious adult applicants to baptism, which 
 is the Congreo-ational foundation, is no less errone- 
 ous, because no less opposed by the majority. And 
 if Baptists are in error in their peculiar views be- 
 cause they are a minority, so Episcopalians, Presby- 
 terians, and Congregationalists are all in error, be- 
 cause they also are severally minorities. 
 
 But further ; since, according to this doctrine, a 
 minority must be in the wrong, a majority must, 
 consequently, be in the right ; and Baptists appear, 
 upon closer investigation, to be in the right on this 
 ground. 1. All hold, with Baptists, that unbap- 
 tized believers ought to be baptized. 2. A majority 
 hold, with them, that baptism does not regenerate. 
 3. A majority hold, with them, that the faith of the 
 parent is not the foundation of the child's right to 
 baptism. 4. A majority hold, with them, that the 
 right of all adults to baptism is not the foundation 
 of the baptism of infants ; and, 5. A majority hold, 
 with them, that the promises to parents, the baptism 
 of households, the alleged holiness of the children of 
 a Christian parent, and the blessing pronounced upon 
 some little children by our Lord, are not sufficient 
 grounds for infant baptism. Although, therefore, 
 the majority deny the Baptist conclusion, the major- 
 ity admit the Baptist arguments from which that 
 conclusion legitimately follows. The Baptist argu- 
 ments, tried by this test of majorities, are sound, and 
 therefore the legitimate conclusion from those argu- 
 ments must be sound also. 
 
NUMBER VVIIU PRACTICE IT. 261 
 
 Nay, tried by this test, the whole doctrine of in- 
 fant baptism must fall ; for that doctrine, if true, 
 must rest upon some foundation ; but by this test it 
 has none. The direct evidence from the New Test- 
 ament is thought by the majority to be insufficient, 
 and therefore is so. Baptismal regeneration, for the 
 same reason, is no foundation for it ; and a supposed 
 covenant with believing parents, and a supposed right 
 of all sincere applicants to baptism, are, by the same 
 test, equally exploded. No foundation of infant bap- 
 tism can be adduced which the majority of Chris- 
 tians do not repudiate ; that doctrine has, therefore, 
 no foundation ; and the Baptists must be right in 
 rejecting it. 
 
 A majority of Christians, indeed, uphold infant 
 baptism ; but, since their arguments for it are mu- 
 tually destructive, their common conclusion must be 
 invalidated. Most persons superficially look no fur- 
 ther than the common conclusion ; but what is the 
 value of a conclusion built on contradictory reason- 
 ings ? No majority can make it plausible. If all 
 agreed in the proofs of the divine institution of infant 
 baptism, then their authority would be more formi- 
 dable to their dissentient brethren. But how stands 
 the case ? One class -believes that infants ought to 
 be baptized because baptism regenerates ; which rea- 
 son being erroneous, the practice of infant baptism, 
 if built on that alone, must be erroneous too. A 
 second class believes that infants ought to be bap- 
 tized because they are included with their parents 
 in the covenant of grace ; and this reason also being 
 erroneous, infant baptism, if built upon it, must be 
 likewise erroneous. A third class believes that in- 
 
262 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 lants ought to be baptized because all applicants 
 ought to be ; and since this reason also is erroneous, 
 if infent baptism rests upon it, it must be likewise 
 erroneous. Since, then, each of these false reasons 
 is unable to sanction the practice, all of them to- 
 gether are unable to sanction it ; and infant bap- 
 tism, which remains without a single solid founda- 
 tion, must be treated as an error, though upheld by 
 the conclusion of the majority. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Being created to the end that we may love and 
 serve our Creator, we have, on the contrary, rebell- 
 ed against him. For this wo must obtain pardon 
 through the Lord Jesus Christ, who has borne the 
 sins of all believers in his own body on the tree, 1 
 Pet., ii., 24 ; 2 Cor., v., 21. But as those only re- 
 ceive the forgiveness of their sins who trust in Christ, 
 all men need the influence of the Holy Spirit, through 
 which alone they can obtain saving faith, John, iii., 
 16, 3G ; Pvom., iii., 1 9—28 ; John, vi., 44 ; Acts, ii., 
 47 ; xi., 21 ; xiii., 48 ; 1 Cor., iii., 5. All are thus 
 called to give themselves up to the service of God 
 the Father, through faith in God the Son, by the 
 aid of God the Holy Spirit ; to die to sin, and begin 
 a new life of devotedness to the Triune God ; to 
 yield themselves up to God their Creator, Preserver, 
 Benefactor, and King ; to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 their Redeemer and Mediator ; and to the Holy 
 Spirit, their Sanctiiier : to consecrate themselves to 
 the Triune God. 
 
 All this must be done openly. Since God is our 
 Father, we must honor him as such ; since the Lord 
 Jesus Christ has died to save us, we must confess 
 him before men ; since the Holy Spirit has convert- 
 ed and sanctified us, we must acknowledge his work. 
 
364 THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. - 
 
 Hence, some solemn and public profession of faith in 
 the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, naturally fol- 
 lows from a real .subjection of heart to the Father 
 through the Son by the Holy Spirit. The Church 
 of Christ, likewise, which is the society of Christ's 
 disciples, ought not to receive into fellowship as 
 brethren those who would disgrace it either by false 
 doctrine or by a discreditable life. Each Church, 
 therefore, should ask some public profession of faith 
 and of consecration to God from all its members be- 
 fore they are admitted. Both these objects are se- 
 cured by the appointed rite of baptism. As Christ 
 will confess us openly before the universe if we are 
 his true disciples (Matt., xxv.), so we ought to own 
 him openly before men, Matt., x., 32. We must 
 confess him every where, before all men, through our 
 whole lives : and it is right that we should enter on 
 this life by a public and solemn act of profession. 
 Baptism is that appointed act. Each Christian con- 
 fesses Christ at the Lord's Supper ; but this Supper, 
 while expressing faith and discipleship, does not dis- 
 tinctly express either the renunciation of sin or con- 
 secration in a new life to the Triune God. In the 
 Supper, likewise, the whole Church confesses Christ, 
 and each believer is undistinguished from the rest ; 
 but baptism is an individual and often a solitary act, 
 in which, before the Church and before the world, 
 each convert avows his repentance and faith.^ By 
 his burial in water he professes to die to all sin as 
 Christ died for it, to renounce it wholly and forever. 
 And in his rising from the water he professes to be- 
 gin a new spiritual life, as Christ has risen from the 
 grave to a life of glory. And as he is baptized 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 265 
 
 " unto the name of the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost," he thus professes his consecration to 
 the service of the Triune God, his Maker, E-edeera- 
 er, and Sanctifier. 
 
 By faith, expressed in baptism, each sincere con- 
 vert confesses Christ so as to wash away his sins 
 (Acts, xxii., 16), to receive pardon (Acts, ii., 38), to 
 put on the robe of Christ's righteousness (Gal., iii., 
 27), and to secure salvation, 1 Pet., iii., 21. And 
 as he confesses Christ, he will be confessed by Christ 
 at the last day, Matt., x., 32 ; R-om., x., 8—10. 
 
 I. Let us now consider the influence which the 
 baptism of a believer is likely to have upon himself, 
 upon the Church of which he becomes a member, 
 and upon spectators. 
 
 Jt is a solemn moment when a person thus, be- 
 fore the assembled multitude, professes, by a sym- 
 bolical act more expressive than words, to renounce 
 all sin, to die to it as Christ died for it, and to rise 
 again to a new life of universal holiness, consecrated 
 forever to the ennobling and joyful service of the 
 Triune God. Christians dishonor Christ and injure 
 themselves when they permit those with whom they 
 live and act not to know that Christ is their master 
 and his word their rule. Such concealment tempts 
 to sinful compliances with the world ; but even if 
 these are escaped, that concealment is an injury to 
 the cause of Christ. He has himself said, "He that 
 is not with me is against me," Matt., xii., 30. And 
 the truth of this is evident : he who is indifferent to 
 Christ, and does not trust in him, declares by his 
 conduct to the world that they may do without 
 Christ, despises his sacrifice, denies his claims, justi- 
 
266 THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 fies universal disbelief, and is therefore his enemy. 
 He who conceals his faith does in effect nearly the 
 same thing. Thought by others to be an unbeliever, 
 and yet esteemed for his social virtues, he leads oth- 
 ers to think that they, like him, can be good enough 
 without Christ. But when a believer is immersed 
 unto the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost, to show that he dies to sin and rises again 
 to a new life, consecrated to God through Christ by 
 the Spirit, then no one can mistake his principle ; 
 he becomes avowedly a follower of Christ. After 
 this act all men have a right to say to him, <' By 
 your own solemn deed you are bound to put off ev- 
 ery inconsistent habit, to renounce every unchristian 
 temper, to eradicate every fault, to live in all things 
 according to the will of God." By this act he has 
 made it the duty of all his fellow-Christians, with 
 whom he associates, to admonish, warn, animate, 
 encourage, api)rove, love, and pray for him as a 
 brother. A thousand checks to sin and a thousand 
 aids to godliness are that day assumed. Faith, hope, 
 and love are likely to be confirmed. Henceforth, 
 more bold in Christ's service and more decided in 
 principle, he is likely to be more useful in the world ; 
 and in after-life, how often must this deliberate act 
 of self-dedication to God recur to his thoughts to re- 
 pel temptation and to strengthen every holy princi- 
 ple within him ? 
 
 If the nerved of the timid may be shaken by the 
 solemn act of dedication to Christ which fills stronger 
 believers with holy joy and gratitude that they are 
 permitted thus to honor him, this very tremor -is 
 calculated to impress indelibly on their minds the 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 267 
 
 engagements into which they then entered, and to 
 render their after-course more devoted and more con- 
 sistent. 
 
 To witness the baptism of a believer must be 
 useful to members of the Church. Another soul is 
 rescued by Almighty grace from perdition, and the 
 Church may share with angels in their joy over a 
 repentant sinner. Another soldier enlists in Christ's 
 army, and his fellow-soldiers may renew their reso- 
 lution to finrht the good fight of faith. At that sight 
 experienced Christians must revive their old impres- 
 sions when they first gave themselves to the Lord ; 
 backsliders, moved to compunction at witnessing a 
 faith so contrasted with their faithless wanderings, 
 may repent ; young Christians must rejoice to admit 
 companions like themselves to the brotherhood of the 
 saints ; and the prayers and praises of many must 
 ascend as an acceptable sacrifice to God. 
 
 But there are other spectators there who are like- 
 ly to derive benefit from the scene. Baptism is cal- 
 culated to check those worldly and frivolous persons 
 who might inconsiderately ask admission to a church. 
 A person who intends to continue in sin could not 
 like thus solemnly to renounce it ; and, without in- 
 tending to lead a new life, would not wish publicly 
 to profess such intention. Conscience would thus 
 keep many from joining the Church when no secular 
 advantages are connected with it, and when admis- 
 sion must be sought by a deliberate and public false- 
 hood. But others would rather feel themselves 
 strongly impelled to seek such admission. How can 
 careless persons see one of their acquaintances re- 
 nouncing sin, and becoming a servant of Christ, ad- 
 
268 THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 mitted to the fellowship of saints, and welcomed by 
 many Christians as a brother, without feeling grieved 
 and alarmed that they have no such place among 
 Christ's disciples ? Belonging to no church, and 
 making no profession of faith in him, how can they 
 think themselves members of the universal Church 
 for which he gave himself to death, and which he 
 loves with an everlasting love ? Especially on such 
 an occasion may the children of pious parents feel 
 their condition as unbaptized. Dedicated to God 
 from their infancy, and trained in his ways, they 
 have received instruction and exhortation from their 
 parents ; they have worshiped with believers, and 
 seen Christian examples from their childhood ; and 
 now, while other young persons are baptized as be- 
 lievers, and welcomed by the Church, they are with- 
 out baptism, without profession of faith, without a 
 place in any Christian church, without even a Chris- 
 tian name. Is it the fear of the world, or the love 
 of pleasure, or habitual frivolity, which hinders ? 
 Whatever it be, they do not confess him, and have 
 no reason to think that he will confess them, Matt., 
 X., 32. They appear to be unregenerate, and if they 
 die so, will probably be excluded from the Church 
 triumphant, as they now are from the Church on 
 earth. This may well urge many to seek decision 
 of principle, and give themselves up to the Lord. 
 Children in the various schools connected with the 
 Church may be no less impressed when they see 
 some of their companions turned from darkness to 
 light, and from the power of Satan unto God, while 
 they remain impenitent and unsaved. If any per- 
 sons are convinced of sin, and begin to seek salva- 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 269 
 
 tion, what can be more proper to decide their wa- 
 vering minds than to see a joyful decision of mind 
 in some who were lately as far from piety as them- 
 selves ? And if any who are young and gay think 
 religion to be gloomy, and plead for a little longer 
 indulgence, what is more likely to convert them than, 
 to see others as young as themselves, as cheerful, 
 and perhaps more intelligent, scorning the servitude 
 to frivolous pleasures, make a joyful surrender of 
 themselves to. the service of God, aided by the pray- 
 ers of hundreds, and cheered by the affectionate sym- 
 pathy of all the children of God ? 
 
 But, besides the influence which the baptism of 
 an individual must have on various classes, the 
 Church derives no small advantage from the insti- 
 tution generally. The mixture of the Church and 
 the world has been one of the most fatal evils which 
 have hindered the progress of the Gospel. Baptism 
 is in some degree a preventive of this evil. I have 
 already noticed that few w^orldly persons, without 
 strong inducements of a worldly kind, would wish 
 to make so solemn a profession of self-dedication to 
 God falsely. But, should they wish to do so, it is 
 not in their power. The Church, which is the judge 
 of the qualifications of candidates for membership, 
 has no right to admit any one to membership if the 
 baptismal profession would be palpably false. Or- 
 dered to put away from themselves each wicked 
 person, they are virtually forbidden to receive such 
 (1 Cor., v., 11—13), and are therefore bound to re- 
 quire from each candidate a sound creed and irre- 
 proachable conduct. It is not the business of one 
 man to readthe heart of another, nor ought church- 
 
270 THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 es to pretend to decide upon the conversion of each 
 candidate for baptism, but they may require evan- 
 geHcal views and godly habits from each ; and this 
 requirement manifestly tends to keep the churches 
 pure. When a church is thus composed of members 
 who have all made this solemn profession, they may 
 refer to it with powerful effect in all their church 
 meetings and in their intercourse with one another. 
 I know not how other churches can apply with any 
 confidence or force the apostolic references to bap- 
 tism, but those churches which are composed of per- 
 sons baptized as believers may stir each other up by 
 the words of Paul, " Know ye not that so many of 
 us as have been baptized unto Christ Jesus have 
 been baptized unto his death ; therefore we are bur- 
 ied with him by baptism unto death ; that, like as 
 Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of 
 the leather, even so we also should walk in newness 
 of life ; for if we have been GVfi(f)VTOL,^ connected 
 in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the 
 likeness of his resurrection. . . . Buried with him in 
 baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him, through 
 the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised 
 him from the dead," Rom., vi., 3—5 ; Col., ii., 12. 
 Each has a right to expect from all that they mor- 
 tify every sinful temper, and live in the practice of 
 all godliness, because they all entered the Church 
 with this profession. 
 
 Neither this nor any other rite can secure the 
 spirituality of a church, nor even hinder its defec- 
 tion. A thousand other influences are in operation 
 
 * " I,vfi(pvofj.ai,, to be naturally or necessarily connected, d/l- 
 TiT/TiOic elc £v, £lc TcivTo." — Liddell. 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 271 
 
 simultaneously with this. Should a church practice 
 infant baptism, it may, notwithstanding the noxious 
 tendency of this error, abound in piety ; and no less 
 a church, which is sound in its view of baptism, may 
 be unsound in doctrine and relaxed in discipline, its 
 members without spirituality, and its services with- 
 out life. But among the means which tend to pre- 
 vent such declension in churches, baptism clearly 
 holds a place. Assuming, then, that a church is 
 flourishing in knowledge and in grace, the duty of 
 repelling from membership those who have not pro- 
 fessed, either at baptism, or from mistaking our 
 Lord's commands with respect to baptism in some 
 other way, their repentance, faith, and dedication to 
 the service of God, would be fulfilled, which would 
 maintain the purity of the Church, and the world 
 would see a Christian society separated from itself, 
 not more by their evangelical views than by their 
 consistent godliness. 
 
 II. On the other hand, the effects of infant bap- 
 tism have been very opposite. 
 
 1. Its first effect is to abolish almost entirely in 
 any church and in any nation the baptism of believ- 
 ers. It is not an addition to the baptism of believ- 
 ers, but supersedes it ; because, when a nation adopts 
 the profession of Christianity, almost all its children 
 are baptized, and there remain no adults unbaptized. 
 The consequence is, that all the efTects of the bap- 
 tism of believers vanish with it. A baptism of ded- 
 ication, not sanctioned by Christ, and of which no 
 instance is found in the New Testament, has abol- 
 ished the baptism of profession instituted by Christ, 
 and alone declared to be practiced by apostles. The 
 
272 THB EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 intense emotions ^^'ith which converts might give 
 themselves in baptism to the service of the Redeem- 
 er are precluded ; and the Church, the congregation, 
 the world, lose the impressions which might be de- 
 rived from witnessing the act by which believers, 
 lately turned from darkness to light, and from the 
 power of Satan to God, surrender themselves to the 
 service of the Redeemer. Christ's baptism, with 
 all its blessings, is set aside to introduce another bap- 
 tism derived from false analogies and forced infer- 
 ences, of which neither Christ nor his apostles have 
 said one word. Through the baptism of uncon- 
 scious infants, the solemn, affecting, and salutary 
 baptism of repentance, faith, and self-dedication to 
 God has nearly vanished from the churches. 
 
 . 2. What have the churches gained by this sub- 
 stitution ? I can find no benefit whatever derived 
 from infant baptism by infants, or their parents, or 
 the churches, or the world. Infants altogether un- 
 conscious are thus dedicated to God, falsely by un- 
 believing parents, and sincerely by parents who be- 
 lieve. In the former case, parents sin by an act of 
 hypocrisy ; in the second, they do what they would 
 do without baptism, and no more. But what does 
 the infant gain ? "Without baptism he might re- 
 ceive parental training, be placed under a pious mas- 
 ter, listen to earnest preaching, join in the prayers 
 of the congregation, associate with godly friends, be 
 instructed at a good school, become a member of the 
 pastor's Bible class, and attend the prayer meetings 
 of the congregation. From what means of instruc- 
 tion is the unbaptized child of Christian parents ex- 
 cluded which would be open to the baptized child ? 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 273 
 
 Under the Mosaic economy, which was exclusive, cir- 
 cumcision admitted the child to the temple-worship, 
 to the teaching of the rabbins or priests, to the Pass- 
 over and other festivals, to association with the cho- 
 sen people, to the use of all the means of instruction 
 then in the world, from which the uncircumcised 
 were excluded ; but under the Christian economy, 
 which is meant for the world, there is no such ex- 
 clusion. The unbaptized child has all the advant- 
 ages which were possessed by the circumcised child, 
 and many more ; nay, further, he has all the advant- 
 ages possessed by the baptized child. In no re- 
 spect does the first differ from the second, except 
 that he does not bear a name Avhich by itself is de- 
 lusive and worse than worthless. The unauthor- 
 ized baptism of infants can not be shown to render 
 to them any service whatever. It renders no ad- 
 vantage to their parents. By the complete subjec- 
 tion of a child to the will of his parents, by his im- 
 ploring helplessness, by his docility and artlessness, 
 by the sacred trust which God has put into the 
 hands of his parents, by the parental love with which 
 he has implored th^m, are they bound and urged to 
 dedicate him from his infancy to God, to instruct 
 and train him for God, and guide him by precept 
 and example to the knowledge and love of his Maker. 
 Can baptism add any thing to these obligations ? 
 Does it in fact ? Even parents who have sprinkled 
 their children feel the force of these natural motives 
 day by day a thousand times more than they do the 
 influence of that religious sprinkling. Pious parents 
 do not need this new inducement to educate their 
 children well ; ungodly parents can not feel its force. 
 
 S 
 
274 THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 On the other hand, the actual practice of Paedo-Bap- 
 tist churches too clearly proves that the churches 
 themselves take very little interest in the ceremony. 
 Baptism, except as far as superstition has invested 
 it w^ith imaginary spiritual power, seems to me to 
 have dwindled into a formality. 
 
 Yet even this formality is fraught with the ele- 
 ments of positive mischief. For since all who are 
 baptized are in some sense disciples (Matt., xxviii., 
 19), all baptized infants are thought to become Chris- 
 tians. The Anglican churches say of them that they 
 are " members of Christ, children of God, and inher- 
 itors of the kingdom of heaven." — Church Cate- 
 chism. " The visible society which God was pleas- 
 ed to institute among men . . . since the day of Pen- 
 tecost, has consisted of baptized families enlarging to 
 many baptized nations." — M'NeiWs Lectures, 14. 
 "It is undeniable, that in Scripture the visible com- 
 pany of the baptized is called the Church." — Ibid., 
 18. In the baptismal service, each Anglican minis- 
 ter says of each child brought to him to be sprink- 
 led, " We receive this child into the congregation 
 of Christ's flock ;" and adds, " This child is regen- 
 erate, and grafted into the body of Christ's Church." 
 Whereupon he further says, " We yield thee hearty 
 thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath pleased 
 thee to regenerate this infant with thy Holy Spirit, 
 to receive him for thine own child by adoption, and 
 to incorporate him into thy holy Church." " Once 
 united in the sacrament to Christ, the child becomes 
 mystically or sacramentally one of that body of which 
 Christ is the head. . . . The formal mystical union 
 takes place individually at the moment, and in the 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 275 
 
 act of the mystical washing away of sin." — Hoare 
 on Baptism, 262. 
 
 All this the children within the Anglican estab- 
 lishment are subsequently taught by the Catechism. 
 Each child in all the parish schools, and in every 
 Anglican family throughout the whole land, is 
 taught to say, in answer to the question, " Who 
 gave you this name ? My godfathers and godmoth- 
 ers in my baptism, wherein I was made a member 
 of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the 
 kingdom of heaven." Hence the children grow up 
 to think themselves Christians, and their parents 
 think them the same. The Church and the world 
 are inseparably blended ; the Church swells into the 
 nation, the nation becomes the Church. 
 
 " We hold," says Hooker, " that seeing there is 
 not any man of the Church of England but the 
 same man is also a member of the commonwealth, 
 nor any member of the commonwealth which is not 
 also of the Church of England . . . one and the same 
 multitude may in such sort be both." — Book viii. 
 
 By this means interminable confusion has spread 
 over the churches. The Church is in the New 
 Testament Christ's bride, which he intends to pre- 
 sent to himself without fault (Eph., vi., 25—27), the 
 company of the first-born, whose names are written 
 in heaven (Heb., xii., 23) ; but now there is a new 
 society, unknown in the New Testament, which men 
 call " the visible Church," another body of Christ, 
 another bride, composed of baptized nations. The 
 churches which were composed of those alone, who 
 were in reality, or in appearance, saints and faithful 
 brethren, are now composed of all who were sprinkled 
 
276 THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ill infancy witliout their own consent or knowledge, 
 of all opinions and of all characters. So we hear 
 of Christian nations and Christian Parliaments, with- 
 out any reference whatever to character, or even to 
 any explicit profession, solely in virtue of this infant 
 sprinkling. Sometimes, also, we hear of " good 
 Christians" and of "bad Christians." The passages 
 of Scripture which urge Christians to separate from, 
 the world have lost their meaning. There is no 
 '' world" in England ; the " world" is the Church ; 
 and Christians must not separate from the Church. 
 Scripture insists upon the necessity of a new birth ; 
 but with what force can its appeal come to those 
 who have been already in baptism " regenerated 
 with the Holy Spirit ?" — Baptismal Service. 
 
 The awful warnings of Scripture to the uncon- 
 verted are limited to heathens and Jews ; the priv- 
 ileges exclusively belonging to saints are ascribed to 
 all who bear the Christian name. By this unhap- 
 py practice of infant baptism, all distinctness of 
 warning is banished from many pulpits. I have 
 heard men appealed to in the pulpit as " Chris- 
 tians living in known sin ; Christians neglecting the 
 Bible and prayer ; Christians ungodly in heart and 
 life." Addressed as Christians, they could not think 
 that they needed a complete change. A develop- 
 ment of latent grace, the revival of a dormant piety, 
 was all that they could require. Already regener- 
 ate Christians, enjoying the intercession of Christ for 
 them, and subjects of the common influences of the 
 Spirit, a little improvement at the close of life would 
 surely suffice to save them. 
 
 An indistinctness of this kind is often perceptible 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 277 
 
 in the pulpits of Anglican ministers, who reject the 
 notion that baptism generally effects the spiritual 
 regeneration of infants. Baptisrai must do some- 
 thing ; it must make the children in some sense 
 Christians, " members of Christ, children of God, 
 and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven." And 
 that is enough to enfeeble fatally all appeals to the 
 unconverted. But infant baptism has very natural^ 
 ly led to the worse notion of baptismal regeneration ; 
 to the notion that the one spiritual regeneration nec- 
 essary to salvation, and which is itself the source of 
 salvation, is accomplished by baptism. Since the 
 Scriptures declare that persons are to be baptized 
 for the remission of sins (Acts, ii., 38), that they 
 should be " baptized and wash away their sins" 
 (Acts, xxii,, 16), that they are " buried with Christ, 
 and rise with him" in baptism (Col., ii., 12), that 
 the baptized "put on Christ" (Gal., iii., 27), and 
 that they are "saved" by baptism (1 Pet., iii., 21) 
 — if these passages are applied to infants, it is very 
 difficult to avoid the conclusion that they are re- 
 newed and justified in baptism. Believers being 
 required to exercise faith before they come to bap- 
 tism, it is easy to understand, with reference to them, 
 that baptism is in all these cases put for the profes- 
 sion of faith — for that real faith which, being proved 
 by confession, is the work of the Spirit, and secures 
 remission of sins ; but as infants are incapable of 
 faith, if these passages apply to them, they must ex- 
 press the results effected by their baptism, in other 
 words, their baptismal regeneration. By this doc- 
 trine baptized nations are regenerated and justified 
 in infancy ; there is no such thing as a regeneration 
 
278 THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 effected by the Spirit of God through his word, 
 James, i., 18 ; 1 Pet., i.', 23. Except in very rare 
 cases, none are justified by faith, for they are justi- 
 fied in infancy. And the following tractarian doc- 
 trine triumphs : " The sacraments, not preaching, 
 are the sources of divine grace." — Tracts, vol. i., 
 p. 4. " They are the only justifying rites or in- 
 struments of conveying the atonement." — Tract 90, 
 p. 46. " Regeneration in baptism is the very spirit 
 and essence of the whole teaching of the Church." 
 — Plaiii Words, p. 21. " The two sacraments of 
 the Gospel are those which directly communicate 
 Christ to the soul." — British Critic, July, 1843, 
 p. 51. "In baptism itself two very different causes 
 are combined, the one God himself, the other a creat- 
 ure which he has thought fit to hallow for this end." 
 — Pusey Tract, 67. " Regeneration is the being 
 born of water and of the Spirit, or by God's Spirit 
 again moving on the face of the waters, and sancti- 
 fying them for our cleansing, and cleansing us there- 
 by."— /^i^. 
 
 " And is not this fundamental error," says a pious 
 Anglican writer, " the mighty mischief which is now 
 desolating our Church ? All the evils which have 
 ever been ascribed to the doctrines of grace, with all 
 their perversions and all their misapprehensions, 
 must sink into insignificance when compared with 
 those which daily and palpably issue from the asser- 
 tion of the general efficacy of baptism in all who 
 partake of that rite." '* As Bishop Jewell asserts, 
 Verily, to ascribe felicity or remission of sin, which 
 is the inward work of the Holy Ghost, unto any 
 manner of outward action whatsoever, it is a super- 
 
THE EFFECTS OF BAPTISM. 279 
 
 stitious, a gross, and a Jewish error." " Thus con- 
 founding circumstantials with essentials, all the mis- 
 chiefs of delusion follow, and the Christian body, 
 thus feeding on wind instead of wholesome nutri- 
 ment, is starved, and faints, and decays." — Biodcl, 
 9, 10, 6. But, so long as infant baptism continues 
 to be practiced, this " gross superstition," this " mighty 
 mischief," must continue, because it springs necessa- 
 rily from the application of the scriptural statements 
 respecting the baptism of believers to the baptism 
 of infants ; and while infant baptism lasts, there be- 
 ing only one baptism enacted by Christ, they must 
 be so applied. 
 
CHAPTER. V. 
 
 PRACTICAL INFERENCES. 
 
 Section I, Some Reasons wlvy a Person who re- 
 nounces PcEclo-Baptisni, after having onade a 
 Profession of Ileligiofi, ought to be bajytized. 
 
 There are two things in baptism, the form and 
 the reality : the form is immersion in water ; the 
 reahty is a profession of repentance and faith, of 
 which the form is significant. One who was sprink- 
 led in his infancy has not, in his passive reception 
 of that rite, either complied with the form or fulfilled 
 the reality of baptism : he has not been immersed, 
 and he has made no baptismal profession of faith. 
 He is, therefore, unbaptized ; and any one who in 
 these circumstances renounces the practice of PsBdo- 
 Baptism as erroneous, knows that he is so. 
 
 As there is no instance in the New Testament of 
 any person who was converted to Christ after he 
 commissioned his disciples to baptize, coming to the 
 Lord's table unbaptized, a person who should do so 
 now would place himself in a situation unlike that 
 of all the Christians during the ministry of the apos- 
 tles. It is safer to conform to the apostolic custom, 
 and to attend the Lord's table as baptized rather 
 than as unbaptized. 
 
 A person sprinkled in infancy may, indeed, have 
 
REASONS FOR BAPTISM. 281 
 
 professed his- faith in Christ by coming to the Lord's 
 table, and in other ways, but he has never made a 
 baptismal profession of faith according to Christ's 
 commands both implied and expressed, Matt., xxviii., 
 19 ; Mark, xvi., 16 ; John, iii., 5 ; Acts, ii., 38. 
 His confession of Christ in one appointed way seems 
 to be no valid reason for neglecting to confess him 
 in another concurrent way, which is no less un- 
 equivocally prescribed. Like the Peedo-Baptist, the 
 Quaker might profess his faith in Christ in word and 
 deed, be avowedly a disciple of Christ, and openly 
 seek fellowship Mdth his people. Like Mr. J. J. 
 Gurney, he may have defended the Gospel by his 
 pen, promoted it by his preaching, and illustrated it 
 by his Christian virtues ; and yet, when such a man 
 recognizes that Christ has enjoined upon all his fol- 
 lowers to the end of time the baptism of water as 
 emblematic of the baptism of the Spirit, he is held 
 by all evangelical churches bound to honor Christ 
 by complying with his command to be baptized. 
 Every Christian minister would advise him to be 
 baptized ; every convert to the doctrine of water 
 baptism in such circumstances complies with the 
 command. It is not because, then, for the first time 
 he professes to believe in Christ. His faith may 
 have been active, his conduct devoted for years, but 
 he has learned a command of Christ with which he 
 was before unacquainted, and he wishes to fulfill it. 
 He is baptized, although he has long professed his 
 faith in Christ, because he wishes to honor the ordi- 
 nance of Christ. Now what is the difTerence be- 
 tween his case and that of the person who, after a 
 similar course of discipleship, renounces Psedo-Bap- 
 
282 PRACTICAL INFERENCES. 
 
 tism ? Both are equally unbaptized, and both have 
 ojDenly served Christ, There is no difierence be- 
 tM^een them in this matter. Why should the one 
 be baptized and the other remain unbaptized ? Why 
 should all ministers and all churches claim this act 
 of obedience from the one disciple, and not equally 
 demand it from the other ? 
 
 Upon this point, the reason w^hich our Lord as- 
 signed for his baptism by the hands of John seems 
 to me conclusive. The folio vising is the narrative 
 of the transaction : " Then cometh Jesus from Gali- 
 lee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But 
 John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized 
 of thee, and comest thou to me ? And Jesus an- 
 swering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now ; for 
 thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness," Matt., 
 iii., 13-15. 
 
 " There was no particular precept in the Old 
 Testament requiring this, but he chose to give the 
 sanction of his example to the baptism of John as 
 to a divine ordinance." — Barnes. 
 
 " Nor could it be more effectually shown how 
 great an honor is due to the rites instituted by God, 
 than when Christ himself commended their use to 
 us by his own example." — Grotius. 
 
 He came unto John to be baptized, " that he 
 might honor John's ministry, acknowledge his com- 
 mission to baptize, and might confirm the institution 
 of baptism by water," saying, " Thus it becomes us, 
 me, and my disciples according to my example, to 
 fulfill all righteousness, to do whatsoever is just, fit, 
 and requisite in our circumstances. It becometh 
 every messenger of God, and even every follower of 
 
REASONS FOR BAPTISM. 283 
 
 mine, to observe every divine appointment, and to 
 honor every divine ordinance." — J3enson. 
 
 " We may learn from this example of Christ that 
 being baptized with the Holy Ghost will excuse none 
 for contempt or neglect of baptism by water, because 
 it is the revealed will of God that all the members 
 of his Church should come under that ordinance ; 
 so, as there is a fulfilling of righteousness in our case 
 as well as in Christ's ... he that erreth through 
 ignorance will correct his error upon better informa- 
 tion." — Foole. 
 
 " They who are of greatest attainments in gifts 
 and graces should yet bear their testimony to insti- 
 tuted ordinances by an humble and diligent attend- 
 ance upon them, that they may give a good exam- 
 ple to others," — Henry. 
 
 <« We never find that Jesus spoke of himself in 
 the plural number, and must, therefore, allow that he 
 meant John also and all the servants of God in a 
 subordinate sense. It became Christ, as our surety 
 and our example, perfectly to fulfill all righteousness ; 
 and it becometh us to walk in all God's command- 
 ments and ordinances without exception." — Scott. 
 
 When the Quaker, on recognizing the doctrine of 
 water baptism, after, it may be, years of Christian 
 profession, is baptized, he fulfills an act of righteous- 
 ness after this example of Christ. Exactly in the 
 same degree does each unbaptized disciple of Christ, 
 who is baptized, fulfill it : in honoring baptism, he 
 honors Christ who has instituted it ; and this seems 
 exactly the point of obedience which his example 
 was intended to enforce. Undoubtedly it should lead 
 his followers generally to honor all his ordinances; 
 
284 PRACTICAL INFERENCES. 
 
 but that which it especially teaches is that when, 
 like him, they have no need of baptism, they should, 
 like him, honor it. Our Lord was now thirty years 
 of age, perfect in holiness, and openly serving God 
 in all holy obedience, yet neither his age, nor his 
 character, nor his zeal and piety, known to all who 
 knew him, hindered him from setting this example 
 to others of respect for baptism as an ordinance of 
 God. If, therefore, any persons have made a pro- 
 fession of religion as many years as Jesus had, but 
 are still unbaptized, they may see in his conduct the 
 course which they ought to take. Baptism, as an 
 ordinance of Christ, ought to be honored by all his 
 disciples, and how can the unbaptized honor it ex- 
 cept by being baptized ? 
 
 In studying the example of Christ, we further 
 learn to consider the influence which our example 
 may have on others. Baptism, as a profession of 
 faith appointed by Christ, being of great importance 
 to the Church, it is necessary that it should be earn- 
 estly commended to the attention of unconverted 
 persons, whose consciences it is well calculated to 
 awaken to a wholesome activity : all such ought to 
 begin their religious profession by being baptized. 
 But with what effect can unbaptized persons urge 
 the duty of baptism on others ? Actions teach more 
 than words ; and if those who hold the immersion 
 of believers to be the only baptism appointed by 
 Christ do yet remain unbaptized, the world in general 
 must judge that they also may safely remain in the 
 same condition. You urge upon some young Chris- 
 tian the duty of baptism, but he may answer, " Why 
 should I encounter the self-denial of baptism, since 
 
REASONS FOR BAPTISM. 285 
 
 you have escaped it ?" There is a difference be- 
 tween the cases, I admit ; but will those who wish 
 for a plea by which they may escape a self-denying 
 duty recognize this difference ? If not, then your 
 neglect of baptism will confirm theirs. 
 
 Especially ought this last consideration to weigh 
 with ministers whose office it is to lead men to a 
 baptismal profession of faith. " It becomes us to 
 countenance and encourage every thing that is good 
 by pattern as well as precept. Christ often men- 
 tioned John and his baptism with honor, which, that 
 he might do the better, he was himself baptized. 
 Thus Jesus began first to do and then to teach, and 
 his ministers must take the same method." — Henry. 
 
 A minister ought to be baptized, first, that he 
 may be able effectually to recommend baptism to 
 those who are converted through his ministry from 
 A life of ungodliness to a life of faith ; secondly, be- 
 cause those who wish to be baptized by him might 
 feel a doubt as to the validity of baptism by an un- 
 baptized minister, and might fear to receive baptism 
 at his hands unless he were baptized. 
 
 It is, moreover, well known that many churches 
 admit to the Lord's table none who are unbaptized. 
 In my opinion, this practice is erroneous ; but as it 
 is sanctioned by the practice of nearly all Christian 
 churches, because nearly all reject unbaptized per- 
 sons from the Lord's table, it should be respected as 
 the result of conscientious conviction rather than be 
 treated as an offense. With these churches, there- 
 fore, each person agreeing with them respecting the 
 doctrine of baptism ought to be in communion, if he 
 can be so without compromise of principle. Now, 
 
286 PRACTICAL INFERENCES. 
 
 since communion with them in the Lord's Supper 
 no more implies a sanction of their exclusive prac- 
 tice than a similar communion with a pious church 
 within the Establishment, or with a pious Presby- 
 terian church, or with a pious Wesleyan church, 
 would sanction the particular opinions of these 
 churches, it ought to be sought ; and the more so, 
 as their brotherly intercourse with Christians of 
 more liberal views tends to render them more lib- 
 eral. But it can only be obtained by baptism ; 
 and the act of baptism being in itself right, it must 
 be also right to enter into communion with such 
 churches in this way. 
 
 Considerations of this kind have so weighed with 
 hose who have studied this question, that of all the 
 ministers who are known to have renounced the doc- 
 trine of Psedo-Baptism, very few, I suppose, could 
 be found who have not been themselves baptized. 
 
 On the other hand, I know nothing which can be 
 alleged against this course except that it is calcula- 
 ted to excite prejudice, and thereby lessen usefulness. 
 But this is, when well considered, aii argument in 
 its favor. For why should the act of baptism ex- 
 cite more prejudice than the maintenance of the cor- 
 responding opinion ? The reason is, because the act 
 teaches the doctrine more publicly and more influen- 
 tially. If you avoid baptism, others will avoid it ; 
 if you accept it, others will accept it. But these 
 are reasons for your baptism, and not against it. 
 
 There remains nothing else to allege against it, 
 except that it may expose you to some measure of 
 contempt ; and if you think of the cross of Christ, 
 you will not shrink from this lighter cross. 
 
REASONS FOR FREE COMMUNION. 287 
 
 Section II. Reaso7is for Fi'ee Coinmunion. 
 
 As many Baptists, knowing that infant sprinkling 
 is not the baptism enjoined by Christ, and that Pse- 
 do-Baptists are therefore unbaptized, think that they 
 ought not to be admitted to the table of the Lord 
 in Baptist churches, I will now state some of the 
 considerations which appear to establish an opposite 
 conclusion. Like the strict Baptists, I believe each 
 person who has been merely sprmkled in infancy is 
 unbaptized, because the external act of baptism is. 
 immersion, and that act is meUnt to be a profession 
 of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 The person sprinkled in infancy has neither been 
 immersed, nor has he made, through his reception 
 of the sprinkled water, any profession whatever of 
 discipleship ; he is, therefore, wholly unbaptized ; and 
 it is regarding him simply as an unbaptized believer 
 that I advocate his right to a place at the Lord's 
 table in a Baptist church. It is of no moment to 
 the settlement of this question whether Paido-Bap- 
 tists would repudiate or not the proposal to admit 
 them to communion with Baptist churches as unbap- 
 tized. We have only to examine truth and duty. 
 If they claim the admission of the validity of their 
 baptism, we are obliged to refuse their claim, because 
 truth does not allow it ; and if they would not wish 
 for communion with us on those terms, we must still 
 advocate it because truth demands it. "Our con- 
 duct on such questions should not be governed by 
 affection any more than by disaffection, but by a re- 
 gard to the revealed will of Christ." 
 
 There are many Psedo-Baptists who love and serve 
 
288 PRACTICAL INFERENCES. 
 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. They are his members, his 
 servants, his soldiers, his friends. They maintain 
 his authority, promote his cause, copy his example, 
 obey his precepts, and live for his glory. They love 
 him, and are therefore loved by him (John, xiv., 21), 
 and to each of them he will say at last, " Well done, 
 good and faithful servant . . . enter thou into the 
 joy of thy Lord," Matt., xxv., 23. 
 
 Why ought not Baptists to own them as brethren ? 
 All who are the servants of Christ ought to be own- 
 ed as such. If he honors and loves them, it is not 
 his will that their fellow-servants should dishonor 
 them. God has made them his children by adop- 
 tion and grace, and can not be pleased to see that 
 while they are owned by him they are disowned by 
 their brethren. It must be right to own the work 
 of the Holy Spirit wherever it is accomplished, and 
 to choose those for our friends whom he has chosen 
 to be his temples, 1 Cor., vi., 19. It is according 
 to nature and grace too, that the sheep of the same 
 flock, under the same shepherd, should walk together 
 and feed together in the same pastures, John, x., 16. 
 Brothers ought to sit down together at their Fa- 
 ther's table (John, i., 12 ; Gal., iv,, 4, 5 ; Matt., 
 xxiii., 8) ; servants in the same household ought to 
 be in friendly association (Heb., iii., 6 ; Gal., vi., 1 0) ; 
 and soldiers of the same army ought to be united, 
 Eph., vi., 10-17 ; 1 Thess., v., 8^ 
 
 What their circumstances dictate the word of God 
 likewise enjoins. To all his disciples, without ex- 
 ception, Christ has said, " By this shall all men know 
 that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to an- 
 other," John, xiii., 35. They must therefore so man- 
 
KEASONS FOR FREE COMMUNION. 289 
 
 ifest their mutual affection by brotherly fellowship 
 that all men may know it. Not for the apostles 
 only, but for all believers, has Christ thus prayed : 
 " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also 
 which shall believe on me through their word ; that 
 they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and 
 I in thee, that they also may be one in us ; that the 
 world may believe that thou. hast sent me," John, 
 xvii., 20. Their union, therefore, must be so mani- 
 fested by brotherly fellowship that the world may 
 see it and be converted by it. Hence the Apostle 
 Paul, adverting to the differences of opinion which 
 divided the Christians at Rome, wrote to them, and, 
 through them, to all real Christians : " Him that is 
 weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful dis- 
 putations," Rom., xiv., 1. If the Jewish Christian 
 had not light enough to throw off the Jewish ordi- 
 nances as abolished in Christ, he was not, therefore, 
 to be repelled from communion with those who had 
 more knowledge ; nor should the strong dispute with 
 him, except as he sought it, and as just occasions 
 were presented, respecting his peculiar views. If, 
 likewise, the Psedo-Baptist has not light enough to 
 throw off the Jewish ordinance of infant circumcis- 
 ion, but must revive it in infant baptism, he is not 
 to be repelled from communion with those to whom 
 God has given more knowledge in this matter. " Re- 
 ceive ye one another," continued the apostle, " as 
 Christ also received us, to the glory of God," Rom., 
 XV., 7. "We are called to receive all Christ's disci- 
 ples, notwithstanding their errors, as Christ has re- 
 ceived us, notwithstanding ours. If we must not 
 openly acknowledge them because of some defects in. 
 
 T 
 
290 PJRACTICAL INFERENCES. 
 
 knowledge, why ^lould Christ accept us, notwith- 
 standing greater defects ? The great ground of this 
 open reception, this free brotherly intercourse, is stat- 
 ed by St. Paul in these words : " Let not him that 
 eateth not, judge him that eateth, for God hath^^e- 
 ceived hi'm,'" Rom., xiv., 3. In other words, let 
 not the Baptist who can not baptize infants condemn 
 pious Pasdo-Baptists who do baptize them, because 
 their faithful profession and their holy life prove that 
 God has received them ; a-nd those who are accept- 
 ed by God as his beloved children are surely good 
 enough to be welcomed by erring and sinful follow- 
 ers of Christ as beloved brethren. 
 
 All this is, indeed, granted by the advocates for 
 strict communion. 
 
 " Elsewhere and in all other things," is their lan- 
 guage, << we own as brethren and honor godly Paedo- 
 Baptists, but we must not admit them to the table 
 of the Lord." '' If I have any thing," says one of 
 them, " like Christian love in me, I feel it toward 
 all those in whom I perceive the image of Christ, 
 whether they be Baptists or Psedo-Baptists, and my 
 refusing to commune with them at the Lord's table 
 is not because I consider them as improper subjects." 
 — A. Fuller. 
 
 " We do receive our Psedo-Baptist brethren in the 
 sense of the apostle. . . . We work with them in the 
 common cause of Christ, in prayer, in missionary, 
 Bible, and religious tract meetings ; we pray for 
 them, and esteem them highly in love for their work's 
 sake ; we rejoice in their spiritual prosperity ; we 
 preach for them, and they for us ; and we would 
 with great pleasure receive them to the table of the 
 
REASONS FOR FREE COMMUNION. 291 
 
 Lord, if we had authority from the Sacred Volume 
 for so doing ; but we conscientiously believe we have 
 not." — Primitive Church Magazi7ie, June, 1849. 
 
 According to this doctrine, Psedo-Baptists are 
 " brethren," yet must not sit down with their broth-, 
 ers at the table of their Elder Brother, Heb., ii., 11. 
 As "brethren," they are Christ's disciples, and there- 
 fore commanded by him to eat and drink in memo- 
 ry of him (Matt., xxvi., 26), but they must not eat 
 and drink Avith their fellow-servants. They are wel- 
 come guests to their Lord, but are repelled by their 
 fellow- guests. Elsewhere they are owned to be 
 brethren, but the chief sign of brotherhood must be 
 withheld from them. They may lead the prayers 
 of their fellow- Christians, and they may instruct the 
 Churches as enlightened and holy ministers of Christ ; 
 yet in that ordinance which is specially appointed to 
 be a sign of the communion of saints and the unity 
 of the body (1 Cor., x., 17), they must be put out, 
 as though they were not members. What a spec- 
 tacle is thus afibrded to the world, who see with con- 
 tempt that the most earnest followers of the Redeem- 
 er can not even commemorate his death together ! 
 When the saints of Jesus are thus put out of the 
 communion of any of his churches, are not those who 
 put them out treading in the steps of Diotrephes (3 
 John, 10), though with a different spirit ? 
 
 No : it is replied, " AVe are willing to receive all 
 who appear to have been received of God to the or- 
 dinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. . . . 
 But we can not divide the one from the other with- 
 out dispensing with an institution of Christ." But 
 this is no reception of them. They can no more 
 
292 PRACTICAL INFERENCES. 
 
 force their cojivictions than you can ; and therefore 
 you say to them in effect, Unless you will forego 
 what you believe to be a duty, the baptism of in- 
 fants, and accept us as authoritative expositors of 
 Christian doctrine, we must expel you from our so- 
 ciety, when we commemorate the dying love of our 
 Lord, and meet as brethren in his name. 
 
 That there is" " an instituted connection between 
 baptism and the Lord's Supper," I freely admit ; 
 and it is no less clear, that after the institution of 
 baptism by our Lord, no person who refused to be 
 baptized was ever admitted in any Christian church 
 to that supper. But neither of these facts afford 
 reason for the rejection of PEedo-Baptists, as such, 
 from it. Baptism being the appointed rite by which 
 believers then professed their repentance and faith, 
 no one could then refuse it without willfully disobey- 
 ing the commands of Christ, and no willfully disobe- 
 dient person could be admitted to the communion of 
 saints ; but as the unbaptized person was then ex- 
 cluded from the Lord's Supper, so he was excluded 
 from every other act which would mark him to be 
 a Christian brother. He could not take the lead in 
 their social prayers ; he could not preach to the 
 gathered Church ; he was not recognized as a min- 
 ister of Christ ; he was not owned even as a brother. 
 These facts abundantly show the difference between 
 his case and that of the godly Psedo-Baptist now. 
 While the one could neither preach nor pray in pub- 
 lic, the other is invited by strict Baptist churches to 
 do both. While the one was esteemed a disobedient 
 unbeliever, the other is owned by them to be a godly 
 minister of Christ. To reject the one from the table 
 
REASONS FOR FREE COMMUNION. 293 
 
 of the Lord was consistent, to reject the other appears 
 to be grossly inconsistent. If the Peedo-Baptist be 
 a disobedient unbeliever, reject him from the Lord's 
 table, and also from every other function and privi- 
 lege exclusively appropriate to believers ; if he be an 
 obedient believer, admit him to these functions, but 
 with them admit him also to the Lord's table. 
 
 But how can the godly Ptedo-Baptist be excluded 
 on these terms ? He is no more a disobedient un- 
 believer than the strictest of the Baptists who would 
 exclude him. The reason why he is a Psedo-Bap- 
 tist is, that he believes the baptism of infants to be 
 according to the will of Christ. What person was 
 ever excluded from the Lord's Supper in the apos- 
 tolic churches for doing all that he believed, after 
 searching of the Scriptures and listening to apostles, 
 to be according to the will of Christ ? What up- 
 right and earnest believer was ever in those days ex- 
 cluded ? What member of one church was refused 
 communion with the members of another ? In what 
 apostolic church were ever such men as Baxter, 
 Howe, and Flavel, Doddridge and Whitfield, Ed- 
 wards and Payson, Fletcher, Martin, Brainerd, and 
 Chalmers, men full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, 
 walking with God and laboring for Christ, refused 
 such communion ? It was reserved for worse days 
 to see so strange a spectacle. 
 
 What if these good soldiers had not taken the oath 
 of allegiance to their king in the exact manner in 
 which Baptists take it, still it was taken. What if 
 they had not put on their king's uniform just as Bap- 
 tists put it on, yet they wore it. The Baptist has 
 professed his allegiance to Christ at baptism, the 
 
294 PRACTICAL INFERENCES. 
 
 I 
 
 Pgedo-Baptist has professed it at the Lord's Supper. 
 Both wear the king's uniform, but the one assumed 
 it at the earUer rite, the other more irregularly at 
 the later rite. If the one in baptism professed to 
 die and rise with Christ, the other in the Supper 
 ''showed forth the Lord's death," 1 Cor., xi., 26. 
 
 "The Scriptures," says Mr. Fuller, "lay great 
 stress upon confessing Christ's name before men 
 (Matt., X., 32), and baptism is one of the most dis- 
 tinguished ways of doing this. When a man be- 
 comes a believer in Christ, he confesses it usually in 
 words to other believers ; but the appointed way of 
 confessing it openly to the world is by being baptized 
 in his name. If, therefore, we profess Christianity 
 only in words, the things professed may be genuine, 
 but the profession is essentially defective." 
 
 Now, since confession is so necessary, and the 
 Peedo-Baptist can not confess him by baptism because 
 he believes it to be wrong, but earnestly desires to 
 confess him in the Lord's Supper, is it not inconsist- 
 ent in those who insist so properly on the value of 
 confession to say to a Christian, Because you can 
 not confess him in one way, we will hinder you from 
 confessing him in another ? 
 
 If, indeed, to admit him to the table were to dis- 
 pense with the command of Christ, and to sanction 
 the neglect of baptism, he must not be admitted ; 
 but this can not be, because he is admitted by the 
 churches who practice free communion, on the ground 
 that he is a believer who keeps the commands of 
 Christ, honors baptism, and believes that he has been 
 baptized. I own that he is unbaptized, but his case 
 is totally different from the case of a person refusing 
 
REASONS FOR FREE COMMUNION. 295 
 
 to be baptized in the time of the apostles : they knew 
 that they were disregarding a divine command, he 
 believes himself to be fulfilling it ; they refused bap- 
 tism because they despised the authority of Christ, 
 he refuses it because he respects that authority. I 
 do not adduce this consideration to show that the 
 Church must receive all candidates for communion 
 as qualified if they think themselves to be so, since 
 the Church must be the ultimate judge of the qual- 
 ifications of all who seek communion with it ; but I 
 adduce it to show that the Paedo-Baptist is not dis- 
 qualified. A loyal, loving, and obedient believer, 
 who obeys the commands of Christ as far as he knows 
 them, why should he be excluded ? He is unbap- 
 tized, it is true ; but his neglect of baptism is sim- 
 ply an error ; and if a faithful, loving, and obedient 
 believer, who studies and follows the Scripture, is to 
 be excluded from communion for an error which does 
 not touch the great doctrines of the Gospel, where 
 is the exclusion to stop ? Arminians and Calvinists 
 must not hold communion together, nor Presbyteri- 
 ans, Anglicans, and Independents, nor Millenarians 
 with ante-Millenarians, nor members of establish- 
 ments with members of free churches, nor Free-com- 
 munion Baptists with those who advocate strict com- 
 munion, nor any believer with any other whom he 
 beUeves to be in error. No members of any church 
 can receive the Lord's Supper together. Churches 
 must be scattered, and nothing remain but a sick- 
 ening and noxious individuality, the churches being 
 reduced to a chaos of disconnected units. 
 
 Let it further be observed, that the reasoning 
 which could prove that unbaptiz^ed persons must 
 
296 PRACTICAL IXFEREXCEd. 
 
 not., under any circumstances, be admitted to the 
 Lord's table, must equally prove that they must not, 
 under any circumstances, be owned as brethren. If 
 you sanction their error by admitting them to the 
 Lord's table, you must sanction it no less by all fra- 
 ternization with them ; and since we must never do 
 evil that good may come, all persons, according to 
 this doctrine, must exclude from their fellowship all 
 whom they imagine to be in error ; and, unless they 
 be themselves infalhble, must allow all their fellow- 
 Christians equally to excommunicate them. Since 
 this absurd conclusion follows from the doctrine that 
 in admittmg saints as such to the communion of 
 saints we sanction their errors, it follows that this 
 doctrine is false. Saints may be admitted to the 
 table of their Lord without sanction of their errors ; 
 and Psedo-Baptists may come to it without any dis- 
 honor done to the. sacrament of baptism. 
 
 There is another objection to open communion, 
 which has been urged in the following terms : 
 " Thousands of persons, who from their early days 
 have been taught and do now believe that by being 
 sprinkled they were made members of Christ, chil- 
 dren of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heav- 
 en, might, but for this error, have been seeking sal- 
 vation from a right quarter. . . . Can it be rooted 
 up too soon ? . . . Are our open-communion breth- 
 ren going the right way to work to root it up, and 
 not rather rooting baptism out of the Church ?" 
 When any doctrine is at once popular and false, an 
 exclusive policy upholds it. Investigation would 
 expose it, and must therefore be prevented ; and as 
 men do not like to be excluded from society, if that 
 
REASONS FOR ?^REE COMMUNION. 297 
 
 exclusion can be attached to a denial of the popular 
 error, men will avoid investigation to escape the 
 consequences of an inconvenient sincerity. But ex- 
 clusiveness is extremely impolitic when a doctrine is 
 unpopular and true. Nothing is more favorable to 
 the progress of such a doctrine than investigation, 
 and whatever promotes investigation extends the be- 
 lief of the doctrine. Now the doctrine of believers' 
 baptism, as opposed to infant baptism, is exactly in 
 these circumstances, and whatever promotes investi- 
 gation will extend that doctrine. Which course, 
 then, tends the most to encourage investigation, close 
 communion or open ? By the one, eminent Chris- 
 tians are treated as heretics, disobedient to the law 
 of Christ, and aliens from his Church ; by the oth- 
 er, they are welcomed as brethren. The former 
 must irritate and repel them ; the latter can not 
 but attract their regard. By the exclusive system 
 they are shut out from communion, not with the 
 churches of Christ, which they might dread, but 
 with a small minoiity of those churches, which they 
 may be tempted to despise. By the one, the advo- 
 cates of the truth appear liberal and fraternal ; by 
 the other, they repel their brethren, by seeming il- 
 liberal and unbrotherly. The one course would lead 
 many to study their opinions, as those of enlighten- 
 ed and liberal persons ; the other would induce many 
 to reject them at once, as leading to a practice so 
 unamiable, repulsive, and unwarrantable. 
 
 In another way this practice of close communion 
 may still more powerfully obstruct the doctrine of 
 believers' baptism. If I mistake not, it must injure 
 the spirit of the churches which practice it. How 
 
298 PRACTICAL INFERENCES. 
 
 can they so separate from those with whom they are 
 commanded to be openly one without serious loss ? 
 John, xvii., 20, 21. How can they so value the 
 rite of baptism as to repel from their communion 
 those who have the faith and devotedness which the 
 rite expresses, and not suffer by it ? At least, they 
 must be much tempted to overvalue the form of re- 
 ligion, and to undervalue the reality ; to " pay tithe 
 of mint, and anise, and cummin," and to " omit the 
 weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and 
 faith," Matt., xxiii., 23. This exclusion of holy 
 men seems a palpable disregard to the work of the 
 Spirit in Psedo-Baptists, tempts Baptists to overvalue 
 themselves on account of baptism, and if it impairs 
 the spirituality of the Church, must hinder the con- 
 version of sinners. But let all consistent believers 
 be admitted to communion, then irritation may sub- 
 side, prejudice be diminished, the piety of the Bap- 
 tist churches become attractive, the doctrines of bap- 
 tism be examined candidly, and many may be con- 
 verted to it. 
 
 There is, however, one more very serious objection 
 to open communion, which ought to be fairly met. 
 Let us hear Mr. Fuller : " The grand cause of the 
 Church's having been corrupted, so as to become 
 apostate, was its being mingled with the world. 
 Psedo-Baptism first occasioned this fatal mixture, 
 and national establishments of religion completed it. 
 The one introduced the unconverted posterity of be- 
 lievers, the other all the inhabitants of a country, 
 considering none but pagans, Jews, and deists as un- 
 believers. The one threw open the door, the other 
 broke down the wall. It is manifestly thus that the 
 
REASONS FOR FREE COMMUNION. 299 
 
 Church and the world have been confounded, and 
 will always be confounded, more or less, till Psedo- 
 Baptism is no more. If you admit Psedo-Baptists to 
 communion, you will not be able for any continu- 
 ance to secure your own principle, that none but 
 real Christians should be admitted." The reason 
 assigned for this opinion is, that in . Peedo-Baptist 
 churches, baptized children are considered as mem- 
 bers of the visible Church, and that they are, there- 
 fore, admitted too easily to the Lord's table. But, 
 assuming the truth of this statement, at least with 
 reference to establishments, let us recollect that 
 few inconsistent communicants from Paedo-Baptist 
 churches would desire occasional communion with 
 Baptist churches, nor could their presence injure 
 these churches ; and with respect to members, each 
 church has the means of preventing the alleged evil 
 in its own hands ; for although it may not nel from 
 its communion Paedo-Baptists as such, it has yet the 
 right to ask from all who are candidates for com- 
 munion credible proofs that they are true disciples. 
 To be communicants in the Establishment ought to 
 be no barrier to communion with any other church, 
 but it is also no sufficient title to such communion. 
 Each church may, if it will, require from candidates 
 the profession of their faith and testimonials to their 
 conduct. The profession thus required may be ex- 
 actly that which v/ould be made in baptism ; and 
 if the Church dread the appearance of sanctioning 
 disobedience to a command of Christ, each Psedo- 
 Baptist candidate may be required distinctly to pro- 
 fess that he refuses to be baptized only in obedience 
 to what he believes, after examination, to be the will 
 
300 PRACTICAL IIVPERENCEd. 
 
 of Christ. The required discipline of the Church 
 may thus be preserved, and all true believers be ad- 
 mitted to communion ; but, on the other hand, to 
 exclude from communion the best men in the coun- 
 try on the ground that they are unbaptized, must 
 make both baptism and Church discipline odious to 
 multitudes. 
 
 For consider the real character of this exclusion. 
 Those only are ordered in the word of God to be 
 excluded who are heretical in doctrine (Gal., v., 12), 
 who are vicious in their practice (1 Cor., v., 11,13), 
 who are schismatical in temper (Rom., xvi., 17), 
 who injure their brethern (Matt., xviii., 17), or who 
 are openly disobedient to the commands of Christ, 
 2 Thess., iii., 14. But you exclude, in company 
 with all these, some of the most loyal, the most act- 
 ive, the bravest, and the most loving disciples of 
 Christ. They may, like Enoch, walk with God ; 
 like Abraham, sacrifice all that is dearest to them 
 to serve him ; like Moses, trample under feet the 
 world's most alluring bribes ; like Paul, consecrate 
 noble faculties with untiring ardor to the cause of 
 their Redeemer ; and yet, because they are Paedo- 
 Baptists, you will exclude them from the table of 
 their Lord. You do this because they will follow 
 what they believe to be the will of Christ, the mean- 
 ing of his command, and the practice of his apostles ; 
 you do this because they do just what you do your- 
 selves ; since you will baptize believers alone, be? 
 cause you think that Christ requires it, and they 
 will baptize infants, because they think that he re- 
 quires it. You do this, therefore, on a principle 
 which would justify their exclusion of you ; which 
 
REASONS FOR FREE COMMUNION. 301 
 
 proscribes all communion among believers, and would 
 substitute submission to human authority for entire, 
 unlimited submission to the authority of Christ. 
 This can not be right ; a more brotherly course is 
 demanded by the plain precepts of Scripture, by the 
 clear proofs of faith and love in Psedo-Baptist breth- 
 ren, by the duty of independent judgment inculcated 
 on all, Rom., xiv., 5, 23. And to admit the saints 
 of Christ as such to his table, to demand no other 
 terms of communion than such as are terms of sal- 
 vation, to welcome as brethren all whose doctrine 
 and conduct prove them to be so, and to invite all 
 evangelical churches to this manifested unity, is at 
 once to extend the true doctrine of baptism, and to 
 promote the progress of Christ's kingdom in the world. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 A FORM OF BAPTISMAL SELF-DEDICATION TO GOD. 
 
 Lord God Almighty, I accept with humble 
 gratitude, as a sinner who has deserved eternal death, 
 and who can not cease to deserve it, the rich, free, 
 and eternal salvation which thou in thy goodness 
 hast provided for me. 
 
 1 look to thee, O God the Father of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ, to save me from the punishment of sin 
 and its power ; from the curse which thy law has 
 justly pronounced upon me, from my own faults, 
 from all temptation, and to bring me to a life of holy 
 bliss in heaven, because thou hast promised all this 
 to those who come to thee, as I now do, through 
 Christ. In dependence upon the merit of thy Son 
 Jesus Christ, upon the aid of thy Spirit, and on thy 
 truth, I look to thee for the eternal salvation of my 
 body and of my soul, and I humbly accept thee as 
 my chief good to all eternity. 
 
 O God the Son, my Redeemer, who didst expiate 
 my sins by thy death, thou wast made sin for me, 
 that I might be made the righteousness of God in 
 thee ; thou hast redeemed me from the curse of the 
 law, being made a curse for me ; and having rescued 
 me from eternal death by thy death, thou dost now 
 hve to bring me to eternal life. Believing in thy 
 power and love, I trust to thy merit and intercession 
 to secure for me the favor of God, to impart to me 
 
coxcLUsroN. 30B 
 
 thy Holy Spirit, to enrich me with all the blessings 
 of the new covenant, and to prepare me for heaven. 
 Thus I accept thee as ray only and all-sufficient 
 Savior. 
 
 Through Christ I likewise thankfully receive thee, 
 O God the Spirit, to be my Sanctifier. For his 
 sake thou dost dwell with those who believe on him, 
 and believing on him, I look to thee to teach me all 
 needful truth, to incline my heart to what is just 
 and right, to set my affections on God and on spirit- 
 ual things, to direct and control my will, to form 
 my character, to sanctify me wholly, to preserve me 
 through all temptations, and to bring me into the 
 presence of my Redeemer in glory. 
 
 Thus I heartily accept thee, O God the Father, 
 the Son, and the Spirit, as " my shield and my ex- 
 ceeding great reward." And I humbly trust, ac- 
 cording to thy promises, to be made happy by thee 
 for both worlds. 
 
 On the other hand, being so blessed and favored, 
 I, as a redeemed and pardoned transgressor, desire 
 to make a public profession of faith in thee, and 
 publicly to dedicate myself to thy service, accord- 
 ing to Christ's appointment, by immersion. Before 
 which public act, I do now, therefore, first dedicate 
 myself to thee in secret. 
 
 First, I renounce all sin forever. By my sins I 
 have displeased and dishonored thee. They have 
 checked my efforts to improve my character, they- 
 have hindered me from doing good, they have injured 
 my peace and usefulness ; they have been my dis- 
 grace, and but for thy mercy they would have been 
 my ruin. I have been unreasonable, corrupt, and 
 
304 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ungrateful in disobeying thee, and am brought by 
 nature and by practice to such a condition that noth- 
 ing but the blood of Jesus Christ can blot out my 
 guilt. Thou hast so hated sin that thou hast sen- 
 tenced sinners to eternal death; and unless Jesus 
 Christ had suffered for it, they could not have been 
 saved. It is unnatural, depraved, and rebellious, 
 exposing them to thy just wrath and curse. It has 
 occasioned the death of Christ ; it has made the 
 world hate him ; it opposes his dominion ; he came 
 to rescue us from its power ; and he feels an irrecon- 
 cilable hatred to it. It is contrary to the nature 
 and the influence of the Holy Spirit, by whom it is 
 progressively destroyed in each .believer, and by 
 whom it must ultimately be destroyed throughout 
 the world. It is worse in thy children than in 
 others, because they must sin against clearer light, 
 and repeated promises, after experiencing the aids 
 of grace, and after tasting the pleasure of obedience, 
 I therefore desire to forsake it forever, and hence- 
 forth to do, say, and think nothing which is contrary 
 to thy will. As Christ died for my sins, and was 
 buried in the grave, so shall I be buried in the water, 
 in token that I die with him to the sins which caused 
 his death, that I may never again serve sin. 
 
 At the same time, I mean by thy help to lead a 
 new life. As Christ rose from the grave, so shall I 
 rise from the water to a nobler and better life than 
 before. Thou didst not give my faculties to be 
 wasted in aimless inactivity, but rescued from active 
 corruption to be employed in all that is useful and 
 ennobling. Henceforth my opinions and judgment 
 of things being formed by a supreme regard to thy 
 
CONCLUSION. 305 
 
 will, I desire to cherish every right principle ; to 
 pursue every honorable and useful end ; to do what 
 is just and true, what is humane and benevolent ; 
 to set my affections on all that is the most worthy 
 to engage them ; to love all that are good ; to seek 
 holiness and heaven ; to live for eternity and for 
 thee ; to be directed in all things by thy word ; to 
 be conformed to the example of Christ ; and to aim 
 at being perfect, as my Father in heaven is perfect. 
 As Christ my Redeemer is in heaven, I will set my 
 affections there ; as he is holy, just, and good there, 
 I will endeavor to be so here ; as he glorifies thee 
 there, T will seek to glorify thee here ; as he loves 
 believers, I will love them ; and as he is head over 
 all things to the Church, I will live to serve the 
 Church. Thus, by thy help, I will rise with Christ 
 to a new life. 
 
 Further, as I am about to be baptized unto the 
 name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, that is, 
 to profess by immersion that I am thy worshiper 
 and servant, I now consecrate myself to thy service 
 forever. 
 
 I give myself unreservedly to thee, O God the 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, relying on thy 
 mercy to accept me through Christ, and on the aid 
 of thy Spirit to enable me to adhere to my resolu- 
 tion. Thy will, O God, shall be mine. I mean to 
 please thee in all things. I count thy enemies my 
 enemies, thy friends my friends. Lord, what wilt 
 thou have me to do ? Only make me know thy 
 will, and by thy help I will do it. Thou art my 
 owner, and to please and serve thee shall be my 
 highest end. 
 
 U 
 
306 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I give myself also unreservedly to thee, my gra- 
 cious and loving Savior, who art one in nature, de- 
 sign, and feeling with thy Father. As thou hast 
 lived and died for me, I wish to live for thee ; and 
 as thou wilt give me glory in heaven, I desire to 
 give thee glory on earth. Before long I hope to see 
 thee in thy kingdom ; meanwhile may I love, serve, 
 trust, and dehght in thee as my ever-present Re- 
 deemer. To obey thy commands, to copy thy ex- 
 ample, to promote thy cause, to help thy servants, 
 to honor thee in the use of all my faculties, posses- 
 sions, and time — all this is my fixed intention, by 
 the aid of thy Spirit. Thou hast bought me by thy 
 blood : I am thine. 
 
 Further, I give myself to thee, O Holy Spirit of 
 God. It is my desire and purpose to be led by thy 
 teaching, and to be conformed to thy will. May 
 thy holy influence surround me wherever I may be. 
 May I never grieve thee by neglect or sin, by hard- 
 ness or unbelief; but may I be immersed in a flood 
 of light and love, as the three disciples were im- 
 mersed in the bright cloud on the mount of trans- 
 figuration. May I be baptized in thee ; pervade 
 all my faculties, consecrate my whole being to thy- 
 self. 
 
 Since I have thus been enabled to believe, O Lord 
 God, and am about to profess my faith by immer- 
 sion unto thy name, I look to thee to fulfill the 
 promises which thou hast made to me in thy word. 
 Jesus, when on earth, said, " He that believeth and 
 is baptized shall be saved." Receive me, therefore, 
 now, and own me at the last day as one of thy par- 
 doned and accepted children. Thy apostle once said 
 
CONCLUSION. 307 
 
 to an anxious multitude, " Repent, and be baptized 
 for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift 
 of the Holy Ghost." Repenting of all my sins, and 
 being about to be baptized in token of that repent- 
 ance, may I have the assurance that my sins are re- 
 mitted, and be sealed with the Holy Spirit of prom- 
 ise. To the end my righteousness will be like filthy 
 rags, and each day I must need thy forgiveness. 
 Now, therefore, I desire, by being baptized in the 
 name of Christ, to express my entire dependence on 
 his merit and mediation, to assume by faith the robe 
 of his righteousness, and to be one of those of whom 
 the Apostle Paul has said, " As many of you as have 
 been baptized into Christ Jesus have put on Christ." 
 Look on me as one who depends on him alone ; let 
 his righteousness be imputed to me, and let it hide 
 from thee all my guilt. 
 
 Thus engaged in thy ennobling service, with a 
 happy assurance that I am thy adopted child, may 
 I have that joy and peace in behoving which, in the 
 case of others, has followed an open confession of 
 Christ. As, on the day of Pentecost, the three thou- 
 sand who were baptized were filled with gladness ; 
 as the jailer and his family rejoiced, believing in thee 
 on the night of their baptism ; and as the Ethiopian 
 treasurer, after receiving baptism, went on his way 
 rejoicing, so may I, in thus putting on the uniform 
 of Christ as his soldier, experience such joy and peace 
 in believing as all the trials of life shall not be able 
 to destroy. 
 
 In this profession may I, through thy grace, be 
 steadfast to the end of my life, and daily grow 
 stronger in faith as nature decays. 
 
308 CONCLUSION. 
 
 As I am about to be received into the communion 
 of saints as the member of a Christian Church, as- 
 sist me to live answer ably to this privilege. Make 
 me to love my brethren, and to be loved by them 
 in return. Never may I sow discord among those 
 whom divine grace has united, but, on the contrary, 
 be a peace-maker among those whom human infirm- 
 ity separates. Never may I envy the gifts and graces 
 of my companions, but feel humble gratitude to thee 
 for every manifestation of thy goodness to them or 
 to myself. Make me according to my ability to pro- 
 mote the happiness of the Church of which I shall 
 form a part, cheerfully sharing in every evangelical 
 labor, contributing to every work of benevolence, and 
 uniting my prayers with the prayers of thy Church 
 for a copious effusion of thy Spirit upon us all. 
 
 Finally, may the memory of this solemn baptism 
 refresh me during all my future course. If ever I 
 am tempted to backslide, may these solemn vows 
 occasion deep contrition, and recall me to fidelity ; 
 and whenever I reflect that I have thus heartily 
 consecrated myself to thy service, may I feel disposed 
 to renew this act of consecration with more entire 
 devotedness and with more triumphant faith. 
 
 Now unto thee who art able to keep me from 
 falling, and to present me faultless before the pres- 
 ence of thy glory with exceeding joy, to thee, the 
 only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, do- 
 minion and power, both now and ever. Amen. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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