)1916 Moral and Spiritual Aspects of Baptism TOGETHER WITH AN EXAMINATION OF THE NATURE OF FAITH AND ITS REIvA- TION TO BAPTISM: BEING A PHILO- SOPHICAIv AND SCRIPTURAIv EXAMINA- TION OF THE CONDITIONS OF SAIvVA- TION AS PRESENTED IN THE GOSPEI.. By N. J. AYLSWORTH, A. M, CHRISTIAN PUBIvISHING COMPANY St. IvOuis Copyright, 1902, By Christian Publishing Company. TO THE MANY FRIENDS WHOSE SYMPATHY AND DEVOTION DURING MANY YEARS OF II^ Division !♦ BAPTISM AS A SPIRITUAL ACT. CHAPTER I. BAPTISM ANSWEKS TO A NEED OF THE HEART. When Christ reclined at meat iu tlie house of Si- mon the Pharisee a woman that was a sinner entered bearing an alabaster box of ointment, and, standing behind him weeping, began to wash his feet with her tears, and wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment. No word had as yet been spoken, but there was a frown on the Pharisee's face. Christ, perceiving this, ad- dressed him, and, referring to the act of the woman, proceeded to give him one of his most searching les- sons. Then, turning to the woman, he pronounced her sins forgiven. Facts are great teachers, and this touching incident is like a jewel flashing its light from many facets. Christ drew forth one of its lessons. Let us con- sider another. In order to do this, let us try to under- stand the nature of this woman's act. Let us notice, in the first place, that it had not been commanded. It was not done under the stress of au- thority. It was purely spontmieous. Let us observe, also, that it was not an act of ittility. She sought in 36 BAPTISM ANSWERS TO A NEED OF THE HEART it no benefit to herself, and expected to confer none upon Christ. It was simpl}' an act of expression. Let us note, also, that it was done in the face of obstacles: She knew that she would not be welcome in the house of the Pharisee, and that her presence would be con- sidered a contamination, and would excite his anger. Yet she broke through all these obstacles to perform the act. There was some strong force behind it. It was by a whirlwind of the heart that she was carried to the feet of Christ. We have here, therefore, a spontaneous act of ex- pression^ done under the force of a deep heart-neces- sity. Before inquiring its significance, let us observe further that this act does not stand alone, but is only one of a sisterhood of similar acts to be met with in all ages and in all climes, and springing from a divinely implanted law of the human heart. As you stand in the presence of death, what means the eager kiss that you press upon the dear cold face? It is not co)nnianded ; it is not useful. You may be very poor, but you divide your loaf that you may pro- vide a casket in which the cold form of your loved one may be laid. You cover it with flowers and leave its jewels upon it. You hire carriages to bear it to the city of the dead, and tenderly, reverently, and in holy sorrow, lay it to rest. Every town has its loJiite city, whose monuments are only useful as expressions of love. Lately a princess was watching at the bedside of her little child, dying of diphtheria. "Kiss me, mamma," said the little one. The conflict in the mother's breast was a short one. She bent, and, with swimming eyes, pressed her lips to those of her dying bal)e, and drank the fatal poison that was to cost her her life. What 37 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM theology is this? Who taught that baby to yearn for that simple rite of love? And who laid upon the mother's heart a necessity to give it that was stronger than life? Ah! this is holy ground; God is here. The need for acts of expression is not confined to the more passionate emotions. The modern nations are cold and practical, but hand-shaking is well-nigh universal. True, it is a custom, but it has nothing in it of the tyranny of custom, and can be omitted with- out any breach of etiquette. It is simply a matter of inclination, and it exists only because the human heart beats beneath it. Free and unconstrained, it is a gen- uine expression of the heart's true feeling. Its exist- ence shows that God has implanted in us a craving for such expression. Now, what is the explanation of all this? It means that words are not sufficient to satisfy the needs of the heart. The feeling overflows them into action — and that, the action of expression. Such is the voiced need of the soul. But the kiss of affection and the hand-shake are more than simple acts of expression. They are acts of communion as well — of spiritual commerce — of the interflow of souls. They are the rushing together of two personalities, and they impart a sense of together- ness that words cannot compass. Explain it as you may, such acts are avenues of personal nearness, which are universally craved^ needed and used; and they w^ill endure as long as the human heart continues to feel. It is not true, however, that an abundance of forms and ceremonies is demanded by the laws of the human soul. They can never be filled by the heart, and tend to the cultivation of formalism and hypocrisy. Eitu- alism, whether in society or religion, is not conducive 38 BAPTISM ANSWERS TO A NEED OF THE HEART to a healthy heart-life; but a few simple acts, such as lie close to the soul's true life, will continue to be de- manded as long as love itself shall endure. So great is this need, that the effort to deny the heart these natural outflows of its life into acts of expression, tends to stifle the affections themselves from which they spring, and in no life are such acts entirely absent that is not already frozen in selfishness. As our chief method of overcoming temptation is to deny evil desires their gratification, so the denial of the nobler spontaneities of our nature tends to weaken and wither them. The case of the "woman that was a sinner" was a case of conversion. We know this because Christ pronounced her sins forgiven. She had heard the words of Christ, and they had stirred her at strange depths. His very presence had awakened in her a sus- picion of divinity. There had been strange movings in her soul. The lame Lemnian was turning uneasily beneath her mountain load of sin. Night had come, but she had not slept. Like a voice from the tomb, the tones of conscience were heard pealing forth their menace. She had sought peace by hushing them, but chords had been struck which could never again be still. The powers of two worlds were in conflict within her soul. There is battle, and, at last, the vic- tory of repentance. A new passion has mastered. A new life has risen up. It is sunrise in her dark heart, — the first her blind eyes have ever seen, — a glorious, new surprise of being. She cannot speak. Words seem mockery. And now she has a new hunger — to pour out her soul in an act of silent gratitude at the feet of her Re- deemer. She seeks her opportunity ; she rushes in ; she 39 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM does it. Christ blesses it — she has found heaven. But what of others who shall in like manner travel this way during the centuries to come? As they gain the new victory, and thrill with the new life, shall they not also feel the new hunger for an act of conse- cration? But there are now no longer any blessed feet to clasp, or any voice to declare their sins forgiven. The Master is no longer here. Where shall now the answer be to this cry of the new-born life? Shall our human loves find their longed-for expression, while the cravings of this divine one are stifled? There is an answer — Baptism. In it the soul may fall at Christ's feet in holy love and self-commitment, breaking the sweet alabaster box of the heart there. It is no empty formality, but its foundations lie deep in the needs of the human soul — needs that rise im- portunate at this period of the soul-history. Nor has baptism only its human side, like the pas- sionate kiss upon the cold face of the dead. It is an act of spiritual interflow, a rushing together of two personalities. The penitent is "baptized into Christ," and Christ, in his Spirit, comes into the soul, and be- stows the assurance of sonship and of remission. A togetherness is reached more intimate than that of any human relation; ive in him and he in us. Peter de- clares on the day of Pentecost that this meeting and uniting with Christ (in the reception of the Holy Spirit) in baptism is the way divinely ordained for all time and for all peoples. Thus a real heart-need in reaching God is satisfied, and baptism appears as no arbitrary appointment, but the answer to a new-born hunger in the soul. Will it be said that modern nations are cold and practical, and do not feel this need? Let it be remem- 40 BAPTISM ANSWERS TO A NEED OF THE HEART bered that a cold and practical conversion is not a Christian conversion. This commercial age cannot transform conversion into a business transaction. Salvation is not a bargain. Unless there be a spir- itual quickening, there can be no conversion. Be- sides, modern nations are not so cold and practical that they dispense with all social rites of human affec- tion. He who feels no such need in his conversion has grave cause for self-examination. To take baptism out of its proper place is to de- prive the heart of the answer to a felt need, and ren- der the ordinance in large part useless, transforming it into an empty formality. When the father saw the returning prodigal afar off, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him, had the embrace and the kiss been denied in the greeting, the deprivation would have been painful. The greeting would have but mocked his feelings, and, in its coldness, been false to the situation. If, then, the embrace and passionate kiss had come six months later, it would have been little better than an empty formality, equally repel- lant to both parties. Such a misplacing of baptism is responsible for much of the disregard in which it is held. Robbed of its natural uses, and placed in unseemly positions, it loses its hold upon the human heart, and clings to Christianity as a useless appendage, held there only by force of divine authority; tolerated for Christ's sake rather than welcomed as an answer to a deep spiritual yearning. It thus becomes a stumbling block alike to the reason and to the heart, and a bone of contention in the church. What a pity that this holy trysting-place of the soul with Christ should have become the battle-field of 41 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM centuries, until the very word smells of the smoke of battle! Is there nothing too sacred for the battle-ax? When shall the grass grow again on this Gettysburg of the ages? When shall birds sing there again, and its beauty and loveliness return? When shall this word become again one of the most beautiful in language? Simple immersion does not suffice to restore the primitive baptism. Not until its investiture with its old associations and tenderness can baptism, rendered holy by the sublimest emotions of the human heart, be again what it was in the days of the apostles. 42 CHAPTER II. BAPTISM NOT A MERE OUTWARD ACT. *'Views of baptisFTi as a mere external and bodily act exert a very injurious influence on the understand- ing and practice of men." — Alexander Cainpbell. Probably the most fertile of all sources of error in reasoning is that of false definition, and that a defi- nition may tyrannize over whole ages of thought, is one of the remarkable facts of history. It has been common to speak of baptism as *'a mere outward act," and in this light it is, no doubt, gener- ally regarded. From this estimate certain conclusions naturally follow, which render it necessary to place strained interpretations on various passages of Script- ure, and which require baptism to occupy a very dif- ferent place in the divine economy from that assigned to it in the apostolic church. If, therefore, this esti- mate be not a correct one, it is far from harmless. § 1. The Nature of a Mere Outward Act. Let us now look carefully into the meaning of the phrase "a mere outward act." There can be no doubt that the contortions of the epileptic are mere outward acts, that is, the mind has nothing to do with them; they are purely physical. Again, a man in his sleep may fall into the water and be rescued by another. Here, also, we have a mere outward act. The man's mind has nothing to do with it. But, if asked whether or not this is baptism, every one would answer unhesitatingly, No. Even though the immersion were administered in all due form, it would not alter the case; nor would it matter by wdiom performed, 43 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM if the candidate be unconscious no one would accord to it the dignity of baptism. Thus it appears that the physical act may possess every possible perfection, and yet we are immediately conscious that it is not Christian baptism. Perhaps it may be claimed that baptism itself is a mere outward act, but that it stands related to certain spir- itual activities of the soul. I shall not stay to show the confusion of thought involved in such a statement, but will simply say that the act itself can not be merely external, as will appear from another exam- ple. A sailor dives into the sea, rises to the surface and returns to his boat. What kind of act is this? Just what has taken place? It is plain that there has been an immersion. But this is not all: there has been a conative act of the mind — an act of the will. There has been more, but I am at present concerned only with this. Without this, there could have been no diving; and this mental act does not simply stand related to the immersion, but the two form one act. Suppose you are told that the man was unconscious. You will at once say that he did not dive, but fell in ; that is, it ceases to be an act, and becomes an accident. The mental act is neces- sary to the very conception of diving — a part of the very meaning of the word. Take that out, and you cannot apply the word dive to the act; and what is true of this is true of every other word implying agency. In short, it is simply impossible for an intel- ligent agent to perform "a mere outward act." Take the mental factor out of it, and it may take place by some other means, but it can in no sense whatever be his act. There are acts that are purely mental, or spiritual, and there are acts that are both mental and 44 BAPTISM NOT A IMERE OUTWARD ACT physical, bat there are no merely physical acts in human agency. Every act of an intelligent agent has its mental factor, which is necessary to its very exist- ence, and forms a part of the act itself, and of the meaning of the word which designates it. Christian baptism is the act of an intelligent agent, and therefore must have its mental factor, which is necessary to, and forms a part of, the act itself. There is more of the Mississippi River than at that point where it billows into the sea. Far up among the mountains it is still the Mississippi. There is more of baptism than what passes into sight. It reaches into the sublimest altitudes of the soul, and is baptism there as truly as where it leaps into the visible. To return to the case of the sailor. Externally, his act is immersion; internally, it may be any one of many mental acts, moral, immoral, or indifferent. It may be merely sportive, or it may be to save another's life, or something else. Were it any of these, not- withstanding the immersion, it could not be baptism, for the reason that none of them constitutes that specific mental act which forms the spiritual part of baptism. We stand now face to face with — what? For cen- turies the question. What constitutes visible baptism? has been hotly discussed, and an extensive literature has grown up about it; but. What constitutes the spir- itual half of baptism? Where is the literature on this? Where is the book on it? Nay, if the question be asked, how^ many can answer it? And yet, it is speaking very moderately to say that this question is, at least, as important as the other. The spiritual part of baptism — wdiat is it? What is its character; what, its status; what, its importance? It is a ques- 45 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM tion of great moment. But before answering this, there is another question which claims our attention. % 2. A Question in Philology. It is well known that the word representing bap- tism, in the Greek language, signifies simply a dipping, or immersion, of objects, animate or inanimate, and with no regard to how it is brought about. It may be simply a physical occurrence. Why, then, should the word have, in the New Testament, a larger mean- ing? It is only necessary to say that this comes about through a well known law of language; viz., that when words are appropriated from a general to a specific use they take on added and specific meanings. To illustrate; The English word elder means simply an older person ; but, when used to designate an ofli- cer in the church, it signifies much more. The amount of the added meaning it thus gains will be found embraced in the description of the qualifica- tions and duties of an elder. In like manner, the Greek word 7rpec7-^i;repos (translated *' elder") meant, in its classical use, simply an older man; but, as applied to an officer in tho primitive church, it took on a volume of additional and specific meaning embraced in Paul's description of the qualifications and duties of that officer. The same is true of the word aide?'- man, from the Anglo-Saxon, which originally signified simply an older man. A striking example of this law is presented in the word Christ. Xpl(tt6. Such an act, by a deep instinct of our nature, will 51 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM seek external embodiiiient, and will gain thereby greater definiteness and power. Everywhere, and in all ages, strong emotions of love, great acts of dedication, and important acts of covenant, have taken on external form, in accordance with a universal law of human nature demanding it. This great spiritual act belongs to all these classes, and exemplifies them in the highest degree. Let us now ask the questions: What is this act called in the Scriptures? and has it been provided with any external embodiment? Can it be found rep- resented by any gospel term? and have the demands of its nature for embodiment been satisfied? In I. Pet. iii. 21, the apostle declares that baptism is "not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God" (R. v.). The common version reads "answer" instead of "interrogation," and the literal meaning of the original is an asking. With the interpretation of this passage I am not at present concerned, further than to notice that, according to any of these read- ings, baptism is here declared to be a mental as well as a physical act, and that the mental part is the very heart of it. The terms "answer," "interrogation," and "asking" all express acts of the mind. Baptism was therefore regarded in the apostolic age as a men- tal as well as a physical act. Again, when speaking of its purpose, it was the habit of the New Testament writers to follow the word baptize by the preposition CIS {into)^ indicating that it was an act of transition — a mental step forward into something wherein the person did not before stand. The penitent is said to be baptized into Christ, into the remission of sins, etc. Whatever it may mean to be "in Christ," that 52 THE SPIRITUAL ELEMENT IN BAPTISM condition is said to be reached in baptism. But that spiritual goal can only be reached by a spiritual step; therefore baptism is a spiritual step — the journey of the soul "into Christ." In Gal. iii. 27, it is spoken of as a putting on of Christ, as a garment: "For, as many of you as were baptized into Christ, did put on Christ." It is also represented as a burying away from the old life and a rising to the new (Rom. vi. 3-5.) It is said to be "the interrogation [literally, asking'] of a good conscience toward God" (I. Pet. iii. 21). When comparing this language with another state- ment of Peter (Acts ii. 38), we are probably safe in concluding, with Lange, that baptism is 2i prayer of the soul for pardon and divine acceptance — for a con- science freed from its sense of guilt. If so, what more natural than that it should be followed by the remis- sion of sins? I may add that it is not simply an single act of obedience, but that, in its consecration, it holds capsulate all obedience. All these Scriptures describe something that, in its very nature, is a mental act, and declare precisely what that act is. Do they declare the literal truth, or, as with many, must the language be interpreted symbol- ically? This will be more fully considered* in another place, but it may here be said that such a view in- volves difficulties of interpretation of the gravest character, and results in the practical exclusion from use of the great body of the language of the Scrip- tures on the subject of baptism. The Scriptures de- clare that baptism is not a mere outward act — a mere washing of the body, or cleansing of "the filth of the flesh" — but a spiritual act, and a spiritual act of a particular character, which they definitely describe. 63 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM What have we now found? That the Scriptural description of baptism on its subjective side corre- sponds exactly to the third spiritual step in conver- sion, as viewed from the standing-point of the soul's necessary experience; that baptism is, in short, the Scriptural name for that great spiritual step. We see also that, according to the universal demand of human nature regarding such mental acts, it has been provided with an external embodiment — fitting, beautiful, im- pressive. All is just as it should be from the standpoint of unvarying spiritual laws. Had it been otherwise, Christianity would have had a blemish. We see also, taken all in all, within and without, how glorious a thing Christian baptism is. If baptism be this high and epochal spiritual step in conversion, — a covenanting with God, the spiritual grasp of the divine hand, the laying hold on a better life, and the consecration of self to God,— some im- portant conclusions must follow: We shall no longer be surprised that the gospel commission makes it, equally with faith, a condition of salvation (Mark xvi. 16). We see that it should be so. We shall not wonder that, on the day of Pente- cost, it is, equally with repentance, declared to be a condition of the remission of sins. We see that it must be so, if baptism be one of the spiritual steps of conversion. In a word, the high and epochal charac- ter assigned to baptism in the New Testament no longer strikes us strangely, but is felt to be natural and necessary. Finally, if baptism be a mental-physical act, a single act, consisting on its mental side of a self-giving and Qhrist-tdking^ and on its physical side, of immersion in tvater, it follows that the whole act should be per- 54 THE SPIRITUAL ELEMENT IN BAPTISM formed at one time; and such was the invariable prac- tice in the days of the apostles, even if need be at '*the same hour of the night" (Acts xvi. 33). When the soul is ready for the mental step, it is time for its physical embodiment. To separate the external of baptism from its true connection, is to cancel its use- fulness. As Prof. Drummond has argued, separation from environment is death. With baptism it is so. It is practically baptiz-icide, 1 shall speak further of this in the next chapter. 55 CHAPTER IV. CONSEQUENCES OF REGARDING BAPTISM AS A MEltfi OUTWARD ACT. In the last chapter, I endeavored to show that bap- tism is a spiritual-physical act, embracing the last and consummating spiritual step in conversion, and that, by its very nature, it must not only succeed repent- ance, but precede divine acceptance and remission of sins — the position accorded to it in the Scriptures. Suppose, now, that we assume baptism to be a mere external act, what will be the consequences? The first consequence will be that those statements of the Scriptures which make baptism a condition to the remission of sins and divine acceptance will an- tagonize our moral sense. That such tremendous issues should be made to depend on a condition so trivial, if not fanciful, and having no moral or rational connection therewith, is a proposition alike repugnant to our reason and to our clearest spiritual perceptions. Such a break between man's moral nature and the Scriptures must become a very serious matter for the Scriptures themselves, and there will remain but one way to deal with it. We must place forced interpre- tations on all such Scriptures, to remove their ap- parent disharmony with our moral instincts. If clev- erly done, this procedure may satisfy some, but with many others it will seem that all is not right, and a lurking seed of skepticism will remain in the mind, to work its unconscious results. Having dealt with this difficulty, we shall then find ourselves crnfronted by another. If baptism is not a 56 REGARDING BAPTISM AS A MERE OUTWARD ACT condition of the remission of sins and of the divine acceptance, it is plain that we mast remove it from among those conditions; and we must hold that the spiritual process of conversion, the divine acceptance, the remission of sins, and the entrance upon the Christian life, all take place without, and prior to, baptism. But, in doing so, we break with the practice of the apostles, as we have already seemed to do with their teaching. With them baptism, the internal and external together, followed repentance immediately, the immersion not being separated from the spiritual act of submission to God. On the day of Pentecost it took place, in its entirety, with three thousand per- sons. At the house of Cornelius it took place imme- diately; with the Ethiopian eunuch, immediately; with the Philippian jailer, the same hour of the night, etc. Such was the apostolic practice. To what, now, can be attributed the fact that the method to-day extensively practiced is to bring the penitent directly to the point where he shall feel that his sins have been remitted, and to disallow baptism till it is believed that all the steps of conversion, as well as the divine acceptance and the complete entrance upon the Chris- tian life, have taken place — to what can this be attrib- uted, but to the belief that baptism has no rightful place in the process of conversion, and to what can that be attributed, but to the assumption that it is a mere outward act? This deviation from the apostolic practice is similar to that which would take place with marriage, should the parties take each other privately as man and ^yife, entering fully upon the marital relation, and after they had been living together for several months, call in a minister to perform some kind of ceremony over them, 57 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM to indicate that they had been married some months before. Should such a mutilation of marriage take place, how long would it take to bring the ceremony into neglect? And should this empty ceremony be given the name of marriage, how quickly would mar- riage be pronounced a non-essential, and how often neglected altogether. Why does marriage, the inter- nal the (mental) and the external, hold its ground from age to age? and why are the internal and external never separated? There can be but one answer — the immutable laws of nature, which lock them securely in their places — so securely that none but the immoral ever think of calling the external part of marriage a non-essential. Thus to mutilate marriage, separating the external from the internal, would so far destroy its utility as practically to amount io free-love. Let us beware how we mutilate baptism, separating the inter- nal from the external; for it cannot fail to work seri- ous damage to the high spiritual interests of Chris- tianity itself. Having taken baptism out of the proper place as- signed it in the Scripture teaching and apostolic prac- tice, we are confronted by another question. Where shall we put it? As a matter of fact, it has been put in various places. It is applied to infants as a dedica- tory ceremony. Tf it be a mere external act, the fact that infants can furnish no mental factor would form no objection to its use upon them ; and, if we are to mutilate it, separating the external from the internal, the question, what place we shall assign to the external part, is thenceforth a simple question of expediency or taste. But, in doing so, we are breaking with the Scriptures, and with the analogy of all the externalized 58 REGARDING BAPTISM AS A MERE OUTWARD ACT mental acts of histor3\ We are at sea, and have little else but fancy to guide us. Those who insist on believers' baptism and aim to keep as close to the Scriptures as possible, but deny that baptism has any rightful place in conversion, can probably do nothing better than limit its use to being ''a door into the visible church." But the Scriptures know nothing of any such limitation, and even make it impossible, if their statements regarding its being a condition of salvation, or remission of sins, are to re- ceive their natural interpretation. Baptism is not a (^oo?Mnto anything; it is nn entering into Christ — the welding of that mystic bond between the soul and Christ, which is described as its being in him, and he in it. This limitation therefore dispenses with the central and most important use of baptism, retaining only a derivative one; but it is no doubt the best that can be done under the circumstances. If we are to cut loose from the distinct statements of Scripture, and from the unmistakable practice of the apostles in the use of baptism, we shall find our- selves confronted with another question. If baptism be a mere external act, a mere formality, why retain it at all in a spiritual religion like Chris- tianity? This situation is by no means a fanciful one. It is being felt with not a little force, and some of "the evangelical denominations are holding to the ordinance with a very feeble grasp. To regard baptism as a mere outward act, and then place it in useless and unseemly positions, is to put it on trial for its Hfe. Nay, rather, to kill it, and then seek to withhold it from burial. Such is the havoc wrought by reading into the Scriptures a distinction that they do not recognize. To speak of baptism as the "outward form of an in- 59 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM ward grace"; or as "a sign and seal of the soul's giving up to God," is to chop the meaning of a Scrip- ture term squarely in two, and apply the whole term to its external half, thus making the Scriptures say w^hat they never intended, and involving them in numerous contradictions and inconsistencies. Baptism was regarded in the apostolic church as one act^ internal and external^ and it continued to be so regarded for more than three hundred years. St. Augustine was the first to introduce the distinction which forms the basis of the modern view.* Eegard baptism as a spiritual-physical act, and all difficulties immediately vanish. If it be the great con- summating spiritual step in conversion, as the Scrip- tures represent it, our moral nature at once arises and places it where they place it, as a condition of salva- tion; and its external part becomes just as useful (nay, more so) as that of marriage, and numerous other externalized mental acts, both civil and social, which hold their places from age to age among all na- tions, grounded in the necessities of natural law. When so regarded, reason, conscience, the human heart, and all history arise to do it homage, and, with reverent hands, enthrone it where Christ and the apostles placed it. The institution of baptism rests on a basis of eternal spiritual laws; and it will endure as long as conversion itself shall last, and the human soul shall continue to be what it is. It courts the light, and will justify itself in the highest courts of human reason. The question is not whether much or little of it shall be retained, or whether much or little shall be made of it. Restoration is the duty of the hour. ^See Encyc. Brit., A.rt. Baptism. 60 REGARDING BAPTISM AS A MERE OUTWARD ACT Restore baptism in its meaning, in its place, in its use; and, when it shall appear the exalted thing that it is, it will need no apologist. When the bush shall burn, men will take off their shoes in its presence. 61 CHAPTER V. THE DIVINE SIDE OF BAPTISM. §i. God's Part in Baptism. In the last three chapters the spiritual element in baptism has been considered only in so far as it relates to the candidate's share in the act. It now re- mains to consider God's part in baptism. One of the first things to arrest our attention in the examination of the subject of baptism is the fact that the candidate does not baptize himself. With the young and timid, there would seem to be a natural reason for this, but in a large proportion of cases, there can be no such explanation. Yet we find in the Scriptures that self-baptism never in any case took place, and furthermore, that it was required in the Commission itself that the disciples should do the bap- tizing. What is the meaning of this? Clearly, that the physical part of baptism is performed by God, through an agent. It is God's act. So completely is this so, that the agent is allowed no discretionary power, but is commanded to perform a certain specific act on a certain particular kind of candidate; and, that he may know that the candidate is a proper sub- ject, a confession of faith is provided, embodying the ground of his fitness. And, then, the administrator is required to perform the act not in his own, but in God's, name. The administrator therefore becomes an instrument — God's physical hand in baptizing men. His act is an administrative act of the Divine Govern- ment. Baptism is thus a dual act — a single act by two persons, God and the candidate — God performing, the 62 THE DIVINE SIDE OF BAPTISM K/rtudidate receiving. It belongs to that class of acts wiiich can only take place through the agency of two persons, like shaking hands, marriage, etc. There arises here an important question. As God's part of the act is performed by an agent clothed with power of attorney, we may ask. Is God present in the act, in propria persona, or only by proxy? A man may transact business in America by his attorney, while living in Constantinople, and be absent not only in body but in thought from what is taking place at the time. In this case, although the a. t of the agent is strictly Jiis by authorization, it i^ nevertheless purely legal, and devoid of a personal element. If, therefore, God baptizes only by an agent, without being person- ally present in the act, vast consequences must ensue. Baptism, on his part, must become a mere legal affair, and this, by an infallible law of influence, will freeze it into legalism on its human side; and a legal baptism will be but the introduction to a legal religious life. This important question is answered for us in ad- vance by the parable of the Prodigal Son. The father does not simply leave orders with his servants that, in case the prodigal returns, they shall admit him, and then go about his business, giving it no further thought; but Avatches anxiously for his coming and, seeing him afar off, runs to meet him, and falls upon his neck, and stifles his confessions with kisses. This, then, we conclude, will be the welcome which the divine Father will give to returning prodigals who come to him in baptism. There is another scene that throws much light on this subject. Although Christ was baptized by John, his baptism differed in important respects from John's 63 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM baptism ; and in all these respects corresponded with Christian baptism, and with the advantage, that some of its attendant features are pictorially represented. It is an exact type of Christian baptism in all respects, save that the matter of sin does not enter into con- sideration. Let us notice what takes place here. First, we have the external act, which we can see; but we have also, on the part of Jesus, a putting off of the old, and lay- ing hold on a new, life-work — a putting off of the life of a carpenter and taking up that marvelous mission of saving mankind. On the part of God, we have the performance of the physical baptism through John his appointed agent, and, in it, his approving accept- ance of Jesus in his new consecration; for he openly declares such acceptance immediately after. Then, at the close of the act of baptism, the Spirit, in the form of a dove, appears and rests upon Jesus, and a voic«a out of heaven declares him to be God's well beloved son. We here have no mere baptism by proxy, but the same fatherly meeting and loving greeting as took place in the case of the prodigal; and we have, more- over, a certain series of occurrences which correspond in all respects to those of Christian baptism, save that, in the latter, the last two are not clothed in symbol. As in this, so in Christian baptism, we have the exter- nal act, and the same act. We have also in the soul of the candidate a renouncing of the old life and taking on of a new life of divine service— a consecra- tion, a giving of himself to God. But, because he is a sinner, we have also one other thing — a prayer for divine acceptance and pardon (1. Pet. iii. 21).* On *See interpretation of this passage in Chapter III., p. 53. fid THE DIVINE SIDE OF BAPTISM the part of God, we have the performance of the physical act, through an agent, and — what? This is the whole question that divides the Christian world regarding the design of baptism, to-day. Let us there- fore proceed carefully here. There is one thing cer- tain— God \^ present pei^sonally ; for baptism is said to be the "asking for a good conscience toward him'' (or, as some prefer to read, "the inquiry* of a good conscience after God"); and, if God be not present to hear this appeal of the heart, he does but mock it. The same thing is referred to in Acts xxii. 16, when Ananias directs Saul to arise and be baptized and wash away his sins, "calling on his [Christ's] name."t This calling on the name of Christ, this prayer of the soul to him, is an act which presupposes the listening ear and the answering blessing. Unless God has intended to mock us, he has not placed these spiritual acts in baptism, to receive no response from him. The cry of the heart is not uttered into vacancy. As with the prodigal, the surrender of the soul finds ready the Everlasting Arms. God is present at the baptismal scene of the convert, as he was at that of his own son, and ready to add his blessing. | What is that blessing? The promise is that immediately || after baptism the *Vulgate, De Wette, Alford. Lange's Com. has: "Baptism is the inquiry for a good conscience before God." So, substantially P^r'Q [^f^'irnn ^ . • — - le verb is in the middle voice — "I call upon (in my behalf) the name of the Ivord . . . i.e., Christ" iTh.3iyex's Lexicon). This is decisive, showing that God is present in the act of bap- tism, ready to bestow some benefit. XOi course, there is a sense in which God is everywhere pres- ent. His gracious presence is here referred to. II Immediately, in the sense that the Holy Spirit was promised without any further condition on the part of the candidate. The Holy Spirit was sometimes conferred by laying on of hands by the apostles, but there is no reason to believe that this was either necessary or universal. Nor have we any knowledge that this 5 65 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM Holy Spirit shall be given to the convert, bearing wit- ness of sonship in his heart and causing him to cry *'Abba, Father." Of so much we are certain, then — that God^is pres- e nt at the transaction, and that the HohuSpirit is be- ^to\ved after it. Does anvthina^ else take place? At this point there are two passages whicirdemand our attention — 1. Fet. iii. 21, which declares that baptism (saves usT^and Acts xxii. 16, which speaks oi' baptism as washing away sin, thus implying that there is some- thing in baptism which takes away sin. These two passages, according to the popular ideas of baptism, stand clearly opposed to our moral intuitions, and to the spirit of Christianity itself. Let us not, however, yield to the temptation to place upon them some strained interpretation; for in so doing we shall close the door to all further light. Let us allow them their obvious import, and continue our investigations. And first, let us look into baptism itself to see what we can find there. There is the external act. Can we dis- cover anything in this which has the power to take away sin? No, for if this were so every bather would be made free from guilt. In some ages of the church, saving power has been supposed to reside in water, but if there be anyone who, after reading the Gospels and the epistles of Paul, setting forth the spiritual character of Christianity, can suppose the apostles capable of such a view, for him I do not write. Now, let us ascend to the spiritual part of baptism, was delayed, except in a single instance (Acts viii.) when the apostles were absent, and when it seemed best that the Spirit should be conferred through their instrumentality. The entire language of Scripture and the apostolic history lead us to believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was closely connected with baptism. THE DniNK SIDE OF BAPTISM within the soul — the putting off of the old life and the complete giving of one's self up to God. Is there anything in this that has power to take away sin? There can be no doubt that it forms a fitting condition of remission, but it has within itself no power to take away guilt, else the candidate could pardon his own sins — an idea which is inconsistent with the very nature of pardon. If we proceed a step further, we shall see that pardon is of necessity something that takes place on the part of another, and, in this case, it must be the act of God. If pardon, or remission of sins, must of necessity be a divine act; if, under the figure of a washing, baptism is said to take away sin; and if it saves us (1. Pet. iii. 21), it is clear that baptism must contain within itself a divine act — the remission of sins. When any one is washed, he is not cleansed after the act, but in and by it; and when one is saved by anything, the saving takes place in the act which saves him, not after it.* It is equally true that when a man is washed he is not cleansed before the washing, but in and by it; and that when a man'is saved by anything he is not saved before that thing takes place, but when it takes placet Here, then, is a divine spiritual element in baptism — the pardon, or remission, of sins. Again, we have seen that the Holy Spirit was prom- ised after baptism, as an indwelling guest, bearing witness of divine sonship. But this could not take *In Titus iii. 5 we are said to be saved * 'through the washing of regeneration [baptism] and the renewing of the Holy Spirit." Thus, salvation takes place, at least in part, in baptism. The Scriptures do not regard baptism simply as a condition to be com- plied with, after \\\\\ch. salvation is granted, but as God's act, in and through which he saves us. fTliat remission of sins does not take place before baptism, will be considered at greater length in a subsequent part of this work. 67 MOEAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM place unless acceptance to sonship had already taken place. And with this the Scriptures agree; for Paul says (Gal. iv. 6): "Because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Now, does this acceptance to sonship take place in baptism, or after it? If the acceptance does not take place until after the act, baptism falls out of analogy with all other externalized mental acts. When the little child throws its arms around its moth- er's neck and kisses her, is the act a mere empty formality, and does the caress in its little heart not take placo until it is all over? Is it not the truth of the case that the heart-caress has burst into form, and lives in the form, as the spirit lives in the body? When the father fell upon the prodigal's neck and passionately kissed him, are we to understand that this was all empty acting, and that the true heart- greeting did not come until it was all over? Nothing but the most positive statements of Scripture could justify us in believing that Christian baptism so grossly violates the spiritual laws of the heart. And here let it be said that but give the heart a chance, and it will correct nearly every error in regard to baptism in the Christian world to-day. But what have the Scriptures to say on this subject? As already seen, the Holy Spirit is not given until after the acceptance to sonship. Now, where does this ac- ceptance to sonship take place? or at what point do men become sons of God? Paul says (Gal. iii. 26, 27) : "For ye are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. ' ' Here the believer's becom- ing a son is located in baptism, and it is stated that it comes about by his putting on Christ, i. e., the spir- 68 THE DIVINE SIDE OF BAPTISM itual part of baptism on its human side. But, a few verses further on, it is said that this becoming sons, which takes place in baptism, comes about by adop- tion; which simply views the same fact from its God- ward side, i. e., the spiritual part of baptism on its divine side. Of course, such acceptance to sonship implies pardon, or remission of sins. Baptism, there- fore, on its divine side, embraces both pardon and adoption. Baptism on its human side is a putting off of the old life and taking on the new — a complete giving up to God, and finds fitting expression in burial and resur- rection; baptism on its divine side is an acceptance to sonship, involving remission of sins, and finds fitting expression in the washing of water. The burial, on the human side, finds its correlate in the washing, on the divine side; the consecration and prayer for accept- ance and pardon, on the human side, finds its correlate in acceptance (involving pardon), on the divine side. This all takes place in the act, as it did in the meeting of the prodigal and his father,* and as the spiritual *Care must be taken not to find in this parable a complete picture of Christian conversion. Christ's mediatorial work had not yet been done, and his kingdom was not yet set up. The prodigal comes to his father without any knowledge of a medi- ator, and his confession is not, as is that of Christian conversion, a confession ol faith. The eager embrace and kiss and the be- stowment of the best robe, the ring, and the shoes, with the merry-making, together constitute the father's loving welcome and reinstatement of the offender, and correspond to blessings conferred in, or in close connection with, baptism. To make the embrace and kiss represent a transaction taking place before bap- tism would not be allowable, for no such thing happens in Chris- tian conversion. This was a spiritual greeting embodied in a visible ad of expression^ and conveying to the prodigal the assur- ance of his father's forgiveness. Nothing of the kind takes place before baptism in conversion. There is no divine-human meeting in which the assurance of remission of sins is conveyed. On the contrary, the Spirit of adoption, giving the sense of sonship, is, by divine apDointment, not bestowed until after baptism. 69 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM laws of the heart demand that it should do ; and these same laws demand that the spiritual meeting of the penitent and his Savior shall find embodiment in an external act. Step between the father and the prod- igal and prevent their passionate embrace and eager kiss, and behold the heart-hunger on either side. Nay, it woukl strike deeper than that; a constrained and starved greeting would have largely chilled the feeling, the very spiritual part of the greeting, itself; and still further than this, had neither of them desired any act of greeting, it would have proved the coldness of the son's repentance and the coldness of the father's acceptance, and would have given evidence of a spirit of mere legalism on both sides. True baptism, so far from being a mere legal affair, is the enemy of legalism, and, by its very nature, a conservator of spirituality in conversion. By virtue of its high spir- itual elements it must ever be a stumbling-block to the legalist. But there are other Scriptural evidences that bap- tism embraces within itself divine acceptance, one of which I will mention. No one can be "baptized into Christ" without hoth. seehing to enter, and being admit- ted, into Christ. Being *'in Christ" is a social relation, and can as little be accomplished by one party alone as can. marriage. This very phrase shows that baptism was regarded by the apostles as an act of divine ac- ceptance on the part of Christ. If any one doubts this, let him try to define the meaning of being *'in Christ," so as to exclude acceptance on the part of Christ, and he will discover the moral impossibility in- volved. "Baptized into Christ" is probably the most comprehensive expression in the New Testament re- garding baptism. It embraces, on its physical side, a 70 THE DIVINE SIDE OF BAPTISM hurial and resurrection^ answering to the spiritual ele- ment on the human side; and (since it takes place in water) a ivashing, answering to the cleansing from guilt, on the divine side. Then, in its spiritual aspect, we have an entering into Christ (human part), and an admission into Christ (divine part). Baptism is therefore a dual act, which, like hand- shaking and many other similar acts, has two-souls, and one body loith two aspects. * 'Baptized into Christ" is one of those happy expressions that say a thing once and forever. It may, perhaps, be said that baptism means all this, but only as a symbol, and that it points to a union be- tween the convert and Christ taking place some time before. Take this view, and you cause baptism to break with the analogy of all other similar institu- tions. Do lovers take each other as husband and wife and enter upon the full marital rehition some time before the marriage act? Can any sufficient reason be assigned why baptism should be so treated? Take this view and you sow the New Testament full of incon- sistencies, and unmoral conditions, and cause it to break with our clearest moral instincts, and with its own sublime teachings, and then, having read unmoral meanings into it, you must wrest and distort its lan- guage, to make it morally tolerable — and all this for the sake of adhering to a groundless assumption that baptism is a mere outward act. It is amazing how men could have so erred regarding baptism. It is the work of mechanical theologies blind to the true nature of Christianity as a religion of the heart. If baptism contains within itself a double spiritual element, — a human giving and a divine receiving, — there will no longer be aiiy passages of Scripture to 71 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM explain away, for it is plain that it contains withiniiself something capable of taking away the guilt of sin. This power lies not in the water, not in the burial, not in the soul's giving up to Christ, but in the divine ac- ceptance, which forms the spiritual part of baptism on its divine side. If this is true, baptism must of course be *'for the remission of sins," and can be fitly said to "wash away" sins, and it will be but natural to say that we are * 'saved by the washing of regenera- tion," etc. All those passages which have been wont to scandalize our moral sense when baptism is viewed as a mere physical act, now fall readily into line, and even become to the heart some of the most precious in the Bible. The whole language of the New Testament regarding baptism thus becomes natural, and in per- fect keeping with the spirit of Christianity. Baptism remains no longer vulnerable to the attacks of the ra- tionalist, but turns upon him and, armed with a higher rationalism, sweeps into his camp with telling effect. It ceases to need an apologist, and becomes itself one of the moral evidences of Christianity. Baptism is a clasping of hands with God. The hand of the penitent trembles and is wet with tears; the hand of the Father is strong, kind, assuring. The hand-clasp is in silence; then, through the Spirit, — **My son"— "Abba, Father." Baptism is the meeting of the Father and the return- ing prodigal. The conditions in conversion and in the parable are the same, save that, as God has no human body, the physical act must of necessity be different. In the mutual embrace the son commits himself to a filial life, with contrite pleadings for acceptance, and in it also, he is accepted. All this is so in baptism. To have deferred the passionate embrace and placed 72 THE DIVINE SIDE OF BAPTISM the scene some months after the son had returned home would have been to transform it into a mockery. Whj^ not so with baptism? Deny the embrace and eager kiss, and you have heart-hunger and a chilling of the feelings that seek such expression. Let the em- brace not be desired by the parties, and you have the coldness of legalism. Accord to baptism, on its human side, the spiritual elements which the Scriptures give to it, and there is no other fitting place where pardon and acceptance to divine sonship can take place. When theology re- stores to baptism the spiritual element of putting on Christ (Gal. iii. 27), the divine pardon and acceptance will quickly take its place there also. §^. The Larger View. The description of the divine side of baptism can hardly be complete without mentioning a larger view, for which the Scriptures seem to give some warrant. We have thus far considered the gift of the Holy Spirit as taking place after baptism. Is such the case? The representative statement of Peter on the day of Pentecost declares that they who repent and are bap- tized "shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." This language declares that the Holy Spirit shall be received on condition of repentance and baptism, but does not specify whether the bestowment is to take place in the act of baptism or after it. There seems to be no reason why the gift of the Holy Spirit should be delayed; the same conditions which entitle one to the remission of sins also entitle him to the gift of the Spirit; so that there need be no waiting for further preparation on the part of the can- didate. If remission of sins and adoption to sonship take place in baptism, certainly the person who has re- 73 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM ceived these marks of acceptance is prepared to receive the Holy Spirit. There can be no moral or spiritual reason why one who has been adopted to sonship should not at once receive the **spirit of adoption." But do not the facts of the gospel history decide that the Holy Spirit is bestowed after baptism, rather than in it? They do not. In so far as they describe the Holy Spirit as being bestowed through the laying on of the hands of the apostles, they necessarily must describe it as following baptism, for this imposition of hands would not be practicable during the baptismal act. But we have no reason to think that this was the universal practice. There was no apostle present to lay hands on the Ethiopian eunuch after his baptism (Acts viii.) ; and he was on his way to a distant coun- try, where no such opportunity would be afforded later. The Christians at Rome possessed the Holy Spirit, as we learn by Paul's letter to them, but we have no reason to believe that they had, at that time, ever been visited by an apostle. Instances need not be multiplied. The gift of the Holy Spirit was prom- ised to the penitent on his submission to baptism, not on submission to baptism and the laying on of hands; and, in all those cases where the laying on of hands did not take place, the physical cause of delay involved in that act would not be present. If there was in such cases any delay, we have no evidence of the fact. The baptism of Christ was a close type of Christian baptism; and we learn that, as he was *'coming up out of the water," and while praying (c/. Mk. i. 10 and Lk. iii. 21), the Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove. Here, too, the fact that the Spirit assumed a bodily form would render its resting upon him impracticable during the baptismal act; but there 74 THE DIVINE SIDE OF BAPTISM is one thing worthy of note: the bestowment of the Spirit was in immediate connection v/ith the baptism, and formed part of the baptismal transaction. That the Spirit was not given during the act of immersion is a matter of no importance; it belonged to the bap- tism. It belonged to God's part of the transaction. And there is every reason to believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit belongs to Christian baptism, and forms a part of the divine share in that transaction. Unless we are prepared to say that God arbitrarily withholds his Spirit from those whom he has already pardoned and adopted as his children, we must hold that the bestowment of the Holy Spirit takes place in immediate connection with baptism, and is essentially a part of the divine side of baptism. In connection with this, it will be well to notice a few facts : John the Baptist predicted that the baptism of the Messiah, not like his own, which was simply a baptism ''in water," should beabaptism "in the Holy Spirit"; and a great outflow of the Holy Spirit in connection with the Messiah's kingdom had, for centuries, been a matter of prophetic prediction. There are some who regard the fulfillment of these prophecies as being fully accomplished in the miraculous outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, together with a similar bestowment on Cornelius and his friends (c/. Acts ii. and X.); but it seems to me that there is not sufficient evidence for this view. It will hardly be questioned that the Christian dispensation is, in its entirety, not only a "ministration of the si)irit" (2 Cor. iii), but a ministration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is promised to every convert (Acts ii. 38), and without his indwelling no one can be regarded as a Christian 75 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM (Eom. viii. 9). Beyond this far-reaching fact, there are some Scripture statements which are worthy of consideration. Christ directed the disciples that, after his ascen- sion, they should remain at Jerusalem until John's prediction should be fulfilled, telling them that they should "be baptized in the Holy Spirit" not many days after. They did as he directed, and on the day of Pentecost the miraculous bestowment of the Spirit took place. This, Peter explained as the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, declaring that there should be a gresit pouri7ig out of the spirit in the Messiah's reign. As this event is taken as a fulfillment not only of John's and Christ's prediction regarding a baptism of the Holy Spirit, but also of Joel's prediction regard- ing the out2)Ouring of the Holy Spirit, it is evident that the two expressions are but different designations of the same act. Whenever, therefore, we find the pom-- ing out of the Spirit spoken of, we may understand that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is meant, and vice versa. Now, in Titus iii. 5, 6, we have the statement, referring to Christians generally, that "he [God] saved us, through the washing of regeneration and re- newing of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior." The outpouring (or baptism) of the Holy Spirit was, there- fore, not limited to one or two occasions, but was a bestowment belonging to Christian converts generally; and we may consider it to be the same as the "gift of the Holy Spirit" spoken of by Peter in Acts ii. 38. But the question runs deeper than this; for the renewing of the Holy Spirit is, in Titus iii. 5, 6, con- nected directly with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But this renewing of the Spirit is, in the same passage, 76 THE DIVINE SIDE OF BAPTISM declared to be one of the steps in reaching salvation. The salvation of the Cretans was accomplished only "through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." The baptism, or outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is, therefore, one of the conditions of salvation. If it be true that "he who believeth and is baptized shall be saved," it can only be so as the bap- tism of the Holy Spirit forms part of the transaction. This language in Titus completely parallels another statement by Christ himself; in Jn. iii. 5, Christ said toNicodemus: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot en- ter into the kingdom of God." It hardly need be said that commentators generally regard both the "washing of regeneration," in Titus, and "born of water," in John, as referring to baptism.* In view of this, the parallel will stand thus: "washing of regen- eration" (Titus); "born of water" (John); the "re- newing of the Holy Spirit," connected with its out- pouring (Titus); "born of the Spirit," or the gift, outpouring, or baptism of the Holy Spirit (John); salvation (Titus); entrance into the kingdom of God (John). It will be observed also that we have the *Thayer's Neiv Testament Greek Lexicon and Cremer's Biblico- Theological Greek Lexicon both define loutrou in Titus iii. 5 as referring to baptism. Prof. Geo. B. Stevens, Ph. D., D. D., Professor of New Testa- ment Criticism and Interpretation in Yale University, sa3'S of the language in Jn. iii. 5: "Most commentators, ancient and mod- ern, hold that there is in the word 'water' some kind of a refer- ence to baptism." De Wette, Meyer and Holtzmann, he says, refer it to Christian baptism; while Tholuck, Alford, Westcott, Plummer and Godet take it as referring primarily to John's bap- tism, and having an 'indirect or prophetic reference to Christian baptism.' " — The Johan nine T/ieoloi^y, p. 249. For our present purpose it does not matter which of these views is taken. It is sufficient to know that "born of water" refers to baptism. 77 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM same order of statement in both passages, namel}^ the "washing of regeneration" and "born of water,'* first; the "renewing of the Holy Spirit" (connected with its outpouring) and "born of the Spirit," sec- ond. The order is also the same as in Peter's state- ment in Acts ii. 38, where baptism stands first and the gift of the Holy Spirit, second. If in Jn. iii. 5 "born of water" means baptism, the word born may be read baptized, and we shall have the passage reading: "Except a man be baptized in water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. As men are saved through the washing of re- generation and renewing (outpouring) of the Holy Spirit, so they must be baptized not only in water, but in the Holy Spirit, in order to enter into the king- dom. Let it be noticed, also, that w^e do not have two births here, — one of water and the other of the Spirit, — but one birth, in which both are factors. If, therefore, this language refers to baptism in water and the Holy Spirit, we shall have, not two baptisms, — one of water and another of the Spirit, — but one baptism, of which both form a part. This passage has been wont to give much, trouble to those who understand "born of water" to refer to the modern evacuated baptism. If Scriptural baptism be understood, there can be no difficulty; for "born of water" will then include surrender to God, laying hold on his salvation, and the forsaking of the old life and entering upon a new, together with retnission of sins and divine acceptance on God's part. Then, in immediate connection with this, and forming a part of the one birth, is the bestowmenr. of the Holy Spirit. Ba])tism — the jewel with its 78 THE DIVINE SIDE OF BAPTISM casket, the spiritual element with its physical inves- titure— is certainly worthy of this position. There is another passage which speaks, not of the outpouring, but of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as applied to Christians generally. Paul says to the Corinthians: '*For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body" (1. Cor. xii. 13). Here we have baptism in the Spirit bringing its subjects into *'one body."* Let it be noted that the one body here spoken of refers to Christ, or the body of Christ (see preceding verse). Now, we learn else- where that it is the very purpose of baptism to introduce men into Christ — into a spiritual union with him and his earthly body, the church. We now discover that this is not consummated short of baptism in the Spirit. This is supported by all we know of such a relation with Christ. Qur union wath Christ consists not simply in our being in him, but also in his being in us (Jn. xv. 3-6; Gal. ii. 20; Rom. viii. 9, 10, el al)\ and such union cannot certainly reach its full consummation until he dwells in us by his Spirit. We are "saved" by the "washing of regeneration" and outpouring (baptism) of the Holy Spirit; we are "born again" by a baptism in water and the Holy Spirit; and we are brought into the body of Christ b}^ being baptized in water and the Holy Spirit. We are not saved, born again, nor introduced into the body of Christ, until w^e receive the Holy Spirit; and, if we lose it, we are no longer saved, but lost (Rom. viii. 9). The time when men are saved is not between baptism *Thc writer is not unmindful of some recent criticism favoring a different view; but it is believed that a correct view of the con- text supports the rendering of the Revised Version, "in one spirit," the baptism being a baptism in the Spirit. 79 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM and the gift of the PIol}^ Spirit, but at the point when they receive the Holy Spirit. To recognize this fact will be no small gain in spirituality of concep- tion. It makes all hinge where it should, and where it does throughout the Christian life, namely, on the possession of the "Spirit of Christ." Whether the gift of the Holy Spirit be understood as taking place strictly in the physical act of baptism,* or after it, it seems evident that the two are regarded as but parts of one transaction, and that the offices assigned to baptism are not fulfilled apart from the bestowment of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit belongs to the divine side of baptism. ♦Alexander Campbell taught that the Holy Spirit is bestowed in baptism. See Christian Baptist, pp. 417, 436. 80 Division XX* THE VALUE OF BAPTISM AS A STUMBLING- BLOCK. CHAPTER I. §i. N'ature and Uses of the ''^ Stumbling-Block.^^ One of the divine characteristics of Christianity is to be found in its stumbling-blocks; and it is in these that, in large measure, resides its tremendous power over the human heart. This feature of Christianity had been foreseen in prophetic vision, and the coming of Christ had been predicted as the laying in Sion of *'a stumbling-stone and rock of offence." When Christ was brought an infant to the temple, the aged Simeon said of him that he was *'set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which should be spoken against"; while the preaching of the gospel is declared by Paul to have proved a stumbling-block to the Jews. Christ became a stumbling-block by what he taught, by what he did, and most of all by what he demanded of men; and that he himself is so often called a stumbling-block, docs but show how continually he .placed before men things which caused them to stumble. John had declared of him that he should have a winnowing fan in his hand, and that he should thoroughly purge his floor; and it is true that his ministry was a perpetual winnowing of men, driving men away — causing them to stumble — and drawing them to him. At one time he caused all his disciples 6 81 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM except the twelve to desert him. They went away, but not forever. We hear from them again on the day of Pentecost. On one occasion a young man came running to him, and asked him what good thing he must do to inherit eternal life. Christ referred him to the command- ments, naming some of them, and the young nian declared that he had kept them all from his youth up, and asked what yet was lacking. With his unerring insight into the secrets of the human heart, Christ answered, "Go, sell all thou hast, and give to the poor, . . . and come, follow me." Like a thun- derbolt riving the oak, so fell this sentence upon the young ruler. Amazed, confounded, dumb, he stood. He stumbled — and went away sorrowing, for he was very rich. But this was not all. A few moments before, he had been resting in the assurance that he was keeping the commandments, but like a gleam of lightning, this sentence had flashed into his soul, and revealed, not God enthroned there, but Mammon. The most .fundamental of all the commandments he was breaking continually. He was not loving God, as the law commanded, with his "heart, his soul, and his might" and he was not loving his neighbor as himself, for he was surfeiting in wealth, with abject want at his very door. This was strong treatment, but there is nothing more characteristic of Christ's ministry than his appalling faithfulness with men; and they have studied the human heart to little pur- pose who do nqt see that if this fails to convert the young man, nothing else will be likely to do so. This is the great service of the stumbling-block. It is a revelation. From the address of Simeon to Mary (Lk. ii. 34-36), we learn four things about it: (1) 82 BAPTISM AS A STUxMBLING-BLOCK It causes men to stumble, to "fall"; (2) it will be "spoken against"; (3) by it the deeper "thoughts" of men's'hearts are "revealed" to them and to others; and (4) their "fall" is with a view to their "rising again." The R. V. reads "rising up" instead of "rising again," indicating that those who fall and those who rise are not the same person, and it was, alas! too true that many of those who fell never rose again, but it is also true that the stumbling-blocks of Christ were charged with tremendous converting power. Either translation does full justice to the original. In Milton's epic Satan sits in the guise of an inno- cent toad at the ear of the sleeping Eve, till touched by the spear of Ithuriel, when he starts forth in all his grizzly deformity. The stumbling-block is an Ith Uriel's spear, dissolving the masks of character and revealing men to themselves; and in this revela- tion lies one of the tremendous motive powers to their conversion. The work of the stum])ling-block is necessary to the success of the converting forces; nay, it is itself one of the most powerful of these forces. As the wounded hart flees from the hunts- man, bearing in its body the fatal arrow, and hides away to die alone, so many a soul fled from Christ, carrying the arrow of conviction, but to writhe alone in the agony of its death to sin. No such masterful work was ever done before on our earth as this; no such mighty hand ever swept the chords of the human heart. The reason of the stumbling-block and the neces- sity for it are found in a universal fact of human nature — that of blindness to the deeper motives of the heart. Water is transparent, and an object 83 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM lying just beneath its surface is easily visible, but the depths of the ocean sleep in everlasting dark- ness. Thus it is with the profounder motives of the heart; nothing but deep-sea soundings can bring forth their secrets. They did not err who inscribed in letters of gold above the door of a famous temple of old the words, Know Thyself. It does but express the painful consciousness of the noblest of our race. When we come to men with the gospel, we do not find them living in a perpetual battle with conscience, and in the glare of a condemning light. Men soon conquer their way to a congenial darkness, and are at rest in sin, so that "having eyes they see not, and having ears they hear not." There are some who sin with a high hand, and sear their conscience as with a hot iron, until its sensibility is lost. Others, with less of violence, administer to it potions, or coax it into silence, or hedge themselves against its attacks. Some hide away from the lightnings of God's dis- pleasure by crawling into certain theories or systems of belief comforting to the evil doer, and are proof against the most powerful appeals to duty. But human blindness is not confined to those classes who stifle conviction. It is found also in those who are candid and sincere. There was never a more honest- hearted man than Simon Peter, and he was never more in earnest than when he solemnly declared that he would never deny his Master; but a few hours later he was denying him with an oath. Poor, honest Peter. There were depths in that heart of his which he had never sounded. The rich young man was so amiable that Christ loved him; but to him it was 84 BAPTISM AS A STUMBLING-BLOCK to be revealed that his heart was a charnel-house of ivorldliness. The work of conversion, therefore, involves a double revelation — a revelation of the truth from heaven, and a revelation of the heart of sin. In this latter revelation the stumbling-block is the most powerful instrument. Here is where philosophy must ever fail. It may teach truth, but it does not charge home upon men. It does not probe and re- veal men to themselves, and it must ever be power- less to produce that marvelous revolution — conver- sion. Beware how you philosophize Christianity away, getting rid of its stumbling-blocks! One form or the stumbling-block was, as we have seen, the test-act, such as was used in the case of the rich young man. This was not the only form made use of by Christ; but in cases where applicable, it is the most perfect of all. Its revelations are with unerring certainty. It is better than an angel visitant or a voice from heaven. It is demonstration. It forces the soul to self-revelation. It is the experi- mental method of modern science, whose question- ings of nature have compelled her to give up her most cunning secrets. The test-act is the magic wand by which the man of science everywhere sub- dues nature and makes it obedient to the will of man; and this, Christ applied to the human heart more than eighteen centuries ago, compe/ling its profound- est secrets, bringing to light the darkest Africas of the human soul, opening the silent and shut chambers, and then sowing in the ghastly death-vaults of the human spirit the seeds of immortal life. This tre- mendous engine of power that has conquered nature was used with a master hand by the only One who has 85 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM ever conquered the human heart; and it worked no less royally there than in its application to nature. We. now face a momentous question: The mighty hand that swept the harp of life with such matchless power is no longer here. He who used the stumbling- block so much and with such telling effect in reveal- ing men to themselves and quickening them to divine life, has gone from our midst. But the need remains; the human heart and its blindness continue as before. Shall Christ's gospel for the ages contain no stumbling- block, no test-act? If not, it will lack one of the mightiest agencies of his personal ministry in moving men to righteousness. %2. Baptism as a Stumhling-BlocJc. Blindness regarding the state of the heart is a far- reaching fact in human nature, and is to be found, as we have seen, not alone in the low and vicious, but also in the candid and amiable. It is not confined to the ignorant, but held in its thrall in Christ's time the highest classes of the Jewish nation, even under the blaze of divine revelation, who being "blind leaders of the blind," and having "ej^es to see" but seeing not, felt secure in a righteousness which, like the whited sepulchre, was filled with rottenness within. And yet these men were not mountebanks; they were "blind." Their hypocrisy was of that deeper kind which is un- conscious. Any system for the redemption of man which should ignore this great world-fact would be unworthy of the divine wisdom, and possess a fatal defect, which would render it powerless for the cure of sin. Of what use were light where men are blind? Of what use would have been revelations from heaven or the most powerful appeals to duty with the rich young BAPTISM AS A STUMBLING-BLOCK man, who felt that he was keeping the whole law blameless — his sightless eyes sealed against the light? With all divine resources at his command, Christ during his personal ministry chose the test-act as the best and most effective means of dealing with such cases. What shall his gospel now do for them? Shall it leave such cases in their sleep of security till the trump of doom shall reveal to them their mistake, or shall it have its stumbling-block, its test-act? To all those who think that their hearts are right, and that they are living righteously, the gospel says : Stand out there before men and in the presence of Heaven, and say, not with cheap words, but by a sol- emn act of consecration: "I forsake my old life for- ever. I burn all bridges behind me. I give myself to God and his service, though it cause the loss of every earthly good, and even life itself. Forever and for- ever, O God, I give myself wholly to thee. Accept me thine." Ah! here is a stumbling-block. No man who wishes to cling to the world with one hand and grasp heaven with the other is ready for this. To no man who is not in dead earnest is it welcome. Im- posture aside, no worldly-minded man realizing the step can leap this barrier. No simply good, moral man likes this. To all but the profoundly penitent and loyal, it is a stumbling-block a high wall which they have not the spiritual power to scale. Like a break- water, it is ever hurling back the floods of humanity who would sweep into the covenant of promise. With consummate statesmanship it is framed to turn back all but the truly penitent. You say, "If baptism in- volves all this, it is an awful thing.'' It is even so. It is awful because, like death, it is a going to meet one's God; but to the penitent, it is the bliss of the nuptial 87 MOEAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM hour. It is the rush of the prodigal into the father's arms. It is the supreme joy of a ransomed soul. But baptism, as a stumbling-block, does more than cause the impenitent to stumble. True to its nature as a stumbling-block, by it "the thoughts of many hearts" are revealed (Lk. ii. 35). It is seen at once that it contains nothing that should be unwelcome to the truly loyal, and yet the hearts of all amiable worldlings, and of those whose repentance is defective, say, no. To all such it brings absolute demonstration, as Christ's test-act did to the rich young man, that within their hearts, not God, not righteousness, but the world, sits enthroned. It is a revelation to the amiable worldling, to the "moral man," to all the un- spiritual, that their righteousness is superficial and has no true heart-foundation. It is an Ithuriel's spear, dissolving the masks of character, and revealing hearts in their true light. Baptism is a divine revela- tion to the individual soul. The New Testament re- veals the truth from heaven; baptism reveals the heart. The New Testament meets human ignorance; baptism meets human blindness. Baptism cannot re- veal what the New Testament reveals — the truth from heaven. The New Testament cannot, like baptism, unmask certain inveterate deceptions of the heart. The New Testament is sunlight; baptism is a search- light. It is a revelation as holy, as divine, and well- nigh as necessary, as the New Testament. Let any one recognizing the truth of Christianity, who hears 7io in his heart to baptism, take heed. It is a revelation of awful moment, and is as certain as though spoken by a voice out of heaven. It means that the heart is not right. Let such a one beware lest he BAPTISM AS A STUMBLING-BLOCK *dash, with a blind and heavy crash, Up against the thick-bossed shield of God's judgment in the field." How gracious in God to submit this test of spiritu- ality, before granting the assurance of divine accept- ance! How merciful not to allow men to claim the promise of remission of sins on their own self-inspec- tion! How fatuous would it be in the church to remove this test, and compel the soul to take this most momentous step of its existence in the dark! But baptism is more than a revelation. It is not only true that by it the thoughts of many hearts are revealed, but it is also "set for the fall and rising again of many." This revelation of unsuspected un- worthiness puts conflict within- the soul, wakes the thunders of conscience, and brings to battle the hostile forces of righteousness and evil. Alas! this battle is with various issue, and many fall never to rise again; but this is better than the peace of spiritual death, for with multitudes the issue is unto eternal life. Baptism is therefore one of the strong converting forces of the gospel. Baptism is more than this. It is a winnowing-fan, separating the chaff from the wheat. It is ever turn- ing back the flood-tides of the unspiritual seeking entrance among the redeemed. It is a wall skillfully built to keep out those who are not penitent and loyal, and by this service it becomes a protector of the spir- ituality of the church. Take it away, and the world and the church would flow together, and the church would be lost in the sea of unredeemed humanity. He who strikes baptism strikes not only the great heart of the world, smiting down one of its mighty redeeming forces, but deals a blow at the spirituality of the church. Baptism is God's tall sentinel angel. MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM guarding the door of his kingdom, and protecting the high spiritual sanctities of our holy religion. Strike baptism down, and we all fall down, Chris- tianity fades into a philosophy or, what is little differ- ent, a mere body of revealed truth, conversions to any extent cease, and that marvelous organization of spir- itual forces for the redemption of man, embodied in the church of Christ, perishes from the earth.* Let us now pause and look around us. Is baptism doing all this glorious work to-day? Our sad answer must be. No — at least, only in part. But why not? This question must be reserved for another chapter. *Kven though the spiritual part of baptism — the complete giving up to God — should remain, yet, if this be not provided with an outward expression, there can be no visible line of separation be- tween the church and the world, and the church must lose its identity, and the great purpose of its existence must fail. It may be supposed that confession might answer the purpose of a dividing line, even though baptism were discarded, but this could only be by changing the confession (Mt. xvi. 16) both in substance and function, and putting as much of the character of baptism into it as possible, and even then Christianity would suffer a great loss, as we shall see iu the next chapter. 90 CHAPTER II. CHEAPENING BAPTISM. It was seen in the last chapter that baptism is admirably adapted as a stumbling-block to all those who are unspiritual and lacking in loyalty to God: that it is a revealer of men's hearts; that this self- revelation furnishes a powerful motive to repentance ; and that, by turning back the unspiritual, it becomes a winnowing-fan, safe-guarding the spirituality of the church. But it is sadly true that these high ends are being but partially and imperfectly accomplished by it, and for the reason that it is not duly honored by the church. The great motive for cheapening baptism must be found in the fact that, as it stands in the gospel, it is displeasing to many. It has had a stormy history, and is still bending under a shower of adverse criticism. To many, this may seem suflScient proof that there is something wrong about it; but they forget that it is of the very nature of a stumbling-block that it should be "spoken against," and that this is one of the highest marks of its excellency and efficiency. Men never like that which causes them to stumble, and if baptism were not disliked, it would be worthless as a test-act. But the disastrous thing about it is, that the church has largely joined in this adverse criticism, to the belittling and cheapening of baptism. When an amiable worldling who thinks that he is living a worthy righteousness finds in his heart a no to baptism, if the church shall join with him, and tell 91 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM him that it is a "mere outward act," a mere physical affair having no important relation to his conversion, and that it is a "non-essential," — that it has nothing to do with his salvation, — ih^y utterly ruin it as a test- act. The man takes no alarm at his aversion to it, and concludes that it is not his heart that is wrong, but baptism. In doing this, the church has put out the search-light that the gospel was carrying into that man's heart; it has slain the angel that was coming to his rescue. Woe to those who put out lights in this darkw^orld! Let such take care lest they be found fighting against God. The wreckers off the coast of California who, in an early day, were wont to quench the beacons on stormy nights, that ships might be wrecked, were monsters. But had they done their fatal work without designing it, the results would have been no less disastrous. What would the New Testa- ment be worth, should the church decry it, belittle it, and discredit it before the world? Put out the New Testament, the light from heaven, and the world would walk in darkness. Let it shine, but put out baptism, that search-light of the heart, and, heart-blind, many must still abide in darkness. Stand by baptism ; declare with awful earnestness that it is a divine demand of vast importance; show that it is reasonable, and requires nothing that should not be welcome to the truly loyal, and that objection to it means nothing less than spiritual death; charge home upon men with a cry as to the perishing — and you shall wake thunders that shall startle them from their fatal security and quicken them to repentance. Honor baptism, use it aright, and you have in your hand a mighty power for the conversion of men. But dissatisfaction with baptism will not stop at 92 CHEAPENING BAPTISM adverse criticism. Men will lay violent hands upon it, and seek to get it out of the way, wholly or in part. It is asked, "Why not dispense with any external act, and let profession consist in a mere verbal announce- ment?" There is something wrong in the very wish to do this. I have endeavored to show, in a recent chapter, that the new-born love of a true penitent craves such an act of expression; and, if this be true, a desire to dispense with it would indicate that the heart is not right. But what effect would cheapening baptism down to a mere verbal announcement have? A witness stands in court ready to testify, but the court will not hear him till it has first thrown a stum- bling-block in the way of bearing false witness. An officer says to him, "Raise your hand to heaven, and solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, and the truth only — and now solemnly pray, 'So help me, God!' " Instead of this, should the judge simply say, "I suppose you intend to tell the truth, sir," would it make no difference? Ask the courts of all civilized nations. Ask your own heart. No doubt oaths are often lightly taken, but the act of solemnly facing God and eternity at this point has a vast influence on truth-telling in our courts. It has great value as a stumbling-block; but the solemn em- phasis of the civil oath utterly pales before the awful solemnity of Christian baptism. Save the subdued silence of the death chamber, and the passage of a soul into the great Unseen, there is nothing in our world so sublimely solemn. To reduce this sublime act to a mere verbal announcement would be to well- nigh level it to the ground as a stumbling-block — to destroy its usefulness as a test-act. 93 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM A friend of the writer once asked a sympathetic audience how many desired to live the Christian life. Nearly every one responded affirmatively. The same day, I believe, he gave the gospel invitation to attest that desire by a solemn act of profession before Heaven and earth, and 7iot one responded, though the views of most of the audience accorded with those of the preacher. Here was the stumbling-block. Here was the difference between baptism and cheap words. Many of the half-hearted would be ready to declare a purpose to serve God, who would hesitate at an awful act of solemnity speaking the loud eloquence of a pro- found repentance. But baptism is designed to keep out the half-hearted. Such are not wanted. Beware how you meddle with God's stumbling-blocks! Along the same line, but proceeding less far, is the practice of replacing the baptism of the gospel by cer- tain faint substitutes, consisting in various other applications of water. To its credit be it said that these substitutes did not have their origin in the Christianity of to-day; but it is to be lamented that many Christian people of our time should feel called upon to perpetuate these changes of a divine institution arising in a ruder and more unspiritual age. There is one thing about all these substitutes that may be thought to be in their favor — they are convenient. The baptism of the gos- pel causes some trouble. But this supposed defect is valuable to baptism as a stumbling-block. It is of vast importance to Christianity to keep out the ease-loving. Baptism ought not to be convenient. Christ's cross was not convenient, and our cross-bearing should not be. The science of biology teaches that ease-taking on the part of any creature results in degeneration — 94 CHEAPENING BAPTISM dying clown to a lower level of being. Ease-seeking in religion is nothing less than spiritual death, and all such tendencies should be resisted. Baptism, as a stumbling-block, should be built so high and strong as to repel all the unspiritual and ease-loving — every other being but the humble penitent fleeing with a broken heart to the arms of his Redeemer. Love is always heroic, and baptism, within and without, should be a wall so high that the unheroic who are unwilling to sacrifice will not leap it. The primitive church were a band of heroes, and they shook the world. Were we like them, the world would hear our thunders at its battlements. Beware how you cheapen baptism, making it more acceptable to the half-hearted! While it is plain that as a test-act baptism should be repellant to the unrepentant, it is also true that there should be nothing in it to repel the truly penitent. Christian baptism not only fulfills this condition, but goes beyond it, presenting a strong attraction to the convert by satisfying one of his deepest cravings. And in this matter the particular act chosen is by no means without its use. All acts are not alike in this respect. One of the strongest cravings of love is for solidarity with the object of its affection. It would share the sorrows and misfortunes of the loved one. Nor does this craving halt at the merely useful. One of love's most powerful yearnings is to pour itself into acts expressive of such solidarity, and it finds in them a deep satisfaction. Evangeline "Sat by some nameless grave, and thought that, perhaps, in its bosom He was already at rest, and she longed to slumber beside him." It could not be useful, but she yearned to be with 95 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM the loved one in his death. Romeo and Juliet die by each other's side. It could do them no good other than to satisfy the heart's great hunger. They would be with each other in death. Quasimodo creeps into the festering charnel-house, and starves to death by the body of La Esmeralda. It could do her no good, but he longed to pour out his devotion in such an act of fidelity, and that longing was stronger than life, He would be with her in her death. Longfellow. Shakespeare and Victor Hugo were not mistaken in their readings of the human heart. The world is full of such things. They gem the skies of history as stars jewel the midnight heavens, and glorify its brutal pages with their holy light. The act of baptism answers to this craving of the convert's newborn love for solidarity with his Redeemer. It would be with him in his death. The convert is therefore "baptized into his death." It is not that it is a burial and resurrection that makes bap- tism so dear to the convert; it is that he is "buried with Christ in baptism," and rises ivith him. This sense of solidarity in baptism is not a new thought. It was the thought of the early Christians, and is so represented by Paul; and it was thus that it answered to the holy cravings of their passionate love. They longed to descend into the lowest grave of their Savior, to be buried with him, to be with him in his humiliation as in his victory, in his death as in his life. What other act could so mirror this feeling? Into what other act could hungry love pour itself with such satisfaction? What other act so perfectly gloves love's holy hand? That baptism should be a burial and resurrection is not a mere fancy. It has a deeper reason — the craving of the soul for an act expressive 96 CHEAPENING BAPTISM of solidarity with Christ — a craving which, with our earthly loves, has often been stronger than life itself. Christian baptism is the most eloquent thing in the world. It chariots intp expression the sublimest pas- sion of the human heart — the newborn love of the soul for its Redeemer. Let none essay to receive it whose heart has not first become eloquent with love's great burden. Else it were mockery. I cannot pass without saying that the setting forth of immersion as a mere legal condition of salvation is a woeful cheapening of baptism on its spiritual side; and it will hardly take place unless the preacher's own religion has already stiffened into legalism. A legal conversion and a legal Christian life is a wretched travesty on Christianity, and is obnoxious to all the thunders of Christ's invective against the legalism of his day. Baptism, within and without, has been subjected to almost every mutilation which it were possible to con- ceive; and as it stands before us to-day, its marred visage speaks of the blind and unholy centuries through which it has passed. It is time to have done with cheapening baptism. The principle of Protest- antism demands that it be restored to its true dignity and function as set forth in the New Testament; and it has been the aim of these chapters to show that reason makes the same demand. It is only a shallow rationalism that discounts baptism; for it finds its raison d'etre in the very laws of the human mind, par- ticularly those of the heart, and a true rationalism requires its complete restoration to its Scriptural dig- nity and position. Reason, no less than Scripture, declares it to be by its very nature a proper condition of salvation, and one of the strong spiritual forces 7 97 MOEAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM in human redemption. It is time that the church ceased to join with the world in depreciating it. I shall close this chapter with a fact from history: Jesus Christ never made any pretensions in science, and claimed nothing in literature, but he did under- take to found a kingdom that should not be moved. He professed to be a spiritual statesman of more than human wisdom. Has he made good that claim? Com- pare his work with that of the tallest sons of human genius, and be silent. The church has ever been trying to mend Chris- tianity, and has given us its thousand heresies and Roman Catholicism, beside all which Primitive Chris- tianity shines in lonely splendor. Christian baptism proceeded from Christ. Let no one undertake to mend it who has not first matched his statesmanship* Division XIX. BAPTISM AS A MEASURE OF FAITH, AND AS A RATIFYING ACT. CHAPTER I. BAPTISM A MEASURE OF THE FAITH OF CONVERSION. It was shown in the last chapter that baptism, in its character of a test-act, serves not only to reveal the deeper motives of the heart, but to repel all who are half-hearted in their desire to serve Christ. It now remains to consider the subject at greater length and from a different point of view. The New Testament teaches that salvation is by faith. But by a moment's reflection we shall discover that faith is not a fixed quantity; and we stand face to face with a most important question — that of Spiritual Dynamics. § /. /Salvation is by Strong Faith. All the elements which enter into the composition of Christian faith may exist in any degree of strength or weakness. Trust, as is well known, may be strong or weak; the force of will by which men adhere to Christ may be strong or very feeble; and the love which men bear to him may range in its strength from a controlling passion to a faint and shadowy emotion. Faith, therefore, in all its elements, may be very weak or very strong, or may mark any intermediate degree between. Now, what renders this a matter of the greatest im- portance is the fact that faith has a definite work to 99 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM accomplish in the Christian life. It is not a mere fan- ciful condition of salvation, arbitrarily imposed on men, but is a necessary means in reaching a definite end. If it does this, it serves its purpose; if it does not, it is worthless, and rightly has no more to do with salvation from sin than any other useless thing. To suppose that God interposes any unnecessary condition between man and his salvation is to impeach his good- ness. Faith is the power behind a righteous life. The end which faith is designed to serve is, to bind the soul to Christ in despite of many opposing influences, and carry it forward in a heroic effort to realize a righteous life. If it fail in this, its work is abortive. But this task is one of no small difficulty, and one which a loeak faith cannot accomplish. Has Chris- tianity, then, made salvation depend on faith (no matter how weak), or on strong faith? If it has done the former, it has committed a grave, if not fatal, blunder in spiritual dynamics. If it has committed such a blunder, how is it that it has not long ago per- ished? The inventor must understand physical dynam- ics; the statesman must understand and rightly meas- ure the impalpable forces which sway great bodies of men; and Christianity must make no mistake in spir- itual dynamics, or it is doomed. Nothing is more re- markable about Christianity than the wonder of its statesmanship; it has made no mistake there. Let us say, then, that the Scriptures do not teach that a man is justified and saved simply hy faith ^ but by strong faith. Paul, in his great argument on justi- fication, describes Abraham's faith thus: "Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, ac - cording to that which had been spoken, So shall th/ 100 BAPTISM A MEASURE OF THE FAITH OF CONVERSION seed be. And without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah's womb: yea, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform" (Rom. iv. 18-21). Here is a description of strong, heroic faith ; and immediately after speaking of it as "strong" and "fully assured," Paul proceeds: "Wherefore also it was reckoned unto him for righteousness" (v. 22). In the original narrative in Gen. xv., no such descrip- tion is given, as this, of Abraham's faith. It is not said to be unwavering, strong, or fully assured, though the conditions show it to have been all these. Why does Paul, then, so describe it, and multiply epithets until the picture stands before us sublime? and then, why does he hinge his "wherefore" on this? If justification may be reached by any faith, weak or strong, Paul's whole argument on justification falls to the ground. To prove that a giant can lift two thousand pounds does not prove that a weakling can do it. The fact that a strong, robust man is received at a recruiting-station furnishes no evidence that a weak one would be. The case of Abraham, both in itself and as stated by Paul, proves absolutely nothing further than that God will justify a man who has strong fsiith. in him; and no more supports the con- clusion that he will justify a man of weak faith, than that he will justify one who has no faith at all. But when Paul comes to apply this argument from the life of Abraham to the case of conversion, why does he not draw the conclusion that the convert is 101 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM also justified by a strong faith? The answer is, that he does. His language is: "Now it was not written for his [Abraham's] sake alone, that it was reckoned unto him; but for our sake also, unto whom it shall be reckoned, who believe on him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead" (vv. 23, 24). In deducing the conclusion from Abraham's strong, fully assured faith, Paul says that "^^' (this strong faith) is also reckoned unto us who believe on him, etc. What this phrase ("believe on him") means, I shall have occa- sion to show later on in this work; but that Christian faith must be strong faith, there is ample evidence near at hand to show. Let us pause here, however, to say that it is only truth to the facts that can lead Paul to give this bold characterization of Abraham's faith, since he is not aiming to prove that any particular de- gree of faith is essential, but to show that faith rather than works is the condition of justification. We have here, therefore, one of those side-lights on a great subject which are so characteristic of Paul. His logic is not cold and prosaic, but sunlit, and full of the small blemishes of one whose soul is on fire. His argument did not require this side-sweep into a kindred subject, but let us be thankful that he has let us know by a few bold strokes what he thought on this important matter. The Pauline idea is, that men are justified by strong faith. But if Paul, in the rush of his argument, could not stay to say much on this subject, the Master did not lack for time to say some very definite things regard- ing it. When, at one time, he was being followed by "great multitudes" who seemed to be adhering to him by some feeble, insufficient bond, — trusting him some- 102 BAPTISM A SIEASURE OF THE FAITH OF CONVERSION what, and being, perhaps, faintly loyal to him, — he turned to them and said : '*If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my dis- ciple. ... So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke xiv. 26-33). This language is very positive; and certainly a bond which will snap all earthly ties, however dear, rather than forsake Christ, and which will draw men away from all that has been most cherished in their own lives, is not a weak one. The element of adherence in such a faith is nothing short of heroic. If these plain, faithful words of the Master are true, none but heroes can be his disciples. Will it be said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" The answer is. It is better to hear it now than to hear it from his own lips when it is too late. It was this one fact, laid to heart by the primitive church, that drove the little band like a plough-share through the Roman Empire, and gave Christianity to the ages. Let it be laid to heart now, and it will bring the heavenly Jerusalem down from God out of heaven in the twentieth century, and the tabernacle of God shall be with men. The master heresy of any age is, that justification may be reached by a weak faith. None but the heroic can ever be true and accepted disciples of Jesus Christ. To speak of an unheroic Christian is a contradiction of terms. Astonishing as Christ's demand may seem to some, it must be seen that he could not consistently have required less. 103 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM § 2. How Strong Must Faith Be9 This now brings us to another urgent and vital question: If salvation be not simply by faith, but by strong faith, the question arises, How strong? Until this is decided no one can know when he has complied with this necessary condition of salvation. If salva- tion were simply by faith, it would be only necessary to know that one had faith, to be assured that he had come within reach of salvation. But, as it is by strong faith, he must first know how strong, and then measure his own faith to determine whether it be of the required degree of strength. Must the convert's faith, then, be as strong as that of any of the mighty-hearted heroes of the past? Must it be as strong as Paul's or Luther's? If so, only a very few can ever be saved. That the great multitude of Christians in the time of Paul had a faith less strong than his, must be admitted; and yet, they were regarded as justified. Evidently this is not the measure. But, as we descend in the scale, we en- counter a great peril — that of falling below the neces- sary degree. There ought to be some clearly defined limit. If 'we would ascertain how strong faith should be it is necessary for us to consider that it is not a mere fanciful or arbitrary condition, but a means to an end — that it is designed to accomplish a certain object; and if, for any reason, it fails to do this, it is worth- less, and is to be counted as not faith. Faith is the force behind the Christian life, behind a life of right- eousness. This life must always be lived in the face of opposition. It is alwa3^s a rowing against the stream. It must make head against the mighty sweep of the world's worldliness. It will always be opposed 104 BAPTISM A MEASURE OF THE FAITH OF CONVERSION by either persecution or seductive temptation. The force that shall plow its way through such obstacles must be a strong one, and strong enough to do that thing^ — to live an independent life, and that under perpetual fire, — strong enough to master, and not be mastered. This requires much force of character — nay, even moral heroiijm. The opposition will come, not only from the world at large, but from friends — often from father, mother, sister, brother, wife, chil- dren, and, most fearful of all, from the passion-springs of one's own heart. To live against all this is to be a hero. His deeds may not be emblazoned to the world, but the true Christian is always God's hero. Just this much faith must accomplish, gr be a failure. True, the Christian does not struggle alone; but the help he receives from above does not come in the shape of overcoming the foe for him, but in making him stronger to resist it; so it is his faith at last that must do the work. We discover, therefore, that faith need not be the strongest ever possessed by the great spir- itual heroes of the past, but it must be strong, and just so strong, or it cannot be saving faith. § 3. The True Measure of Faith. Having seen that saving faith must be strong faith, and how strong it must be, we are next led to ask whether there be any msans of measuring this faith. There is just as much need of a measure here as in mechanics, or in determining the stature of a recruit for the army. Now, the great strain, and the call for moral heroism in living the Christian life before the world, lies in facing the world, and standing in opposi- tion to it, — in meeting its derision, its contumely, its hatred, — in cutting one's self off from its pleasures, and in breaking completelv with the old life. The 105 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM strong shock of all these world- and old-life forces is felt in profession. It is there that the convert stands out before the world's fierce gaze and sounds the note of eternal battle with it. It is there that he renounces forever the past, and commits himself, in the eyes of all men, to a new life. It is there that in one con- centrated shock the clash with the world-life begins. This act gathers into itself the great elements of the life-conflict, and is, in short, the undertaking of the battle. It is a great representative act, standing for all that is to follow, and subjecting the soul to the great moral strain of the Christian life. If, on its positive side, it is the most suitable meas- ure of the strength of faith, it is equally so when negatively considered. The Christian life must be lived before the world; therefore any faith which cannot face the world, cannot live that life, — cannot do faith's work, and is a valueless faith for the pur- poses of salvation. The great representative act of profession is therefore the natural and most fitting measure of the convert's faith*. It need hardly be said that profession should be em- bodied in some strong, expressive, and profoundly impressive act. Such an act we have in Christian baptism. It marks a severance from the world as complete as actual burial, and a rising, afterward, to another life. Now, it is not simply by divine appoint- ment that ijrofession becomes a measure of faith, for that is in the very nature of the case; but it is by divine appointment that baptism, so fitly adapted to that end, is made the great act of profession ; and it is *Profession is not only a facing of the world and breaking with it, but the decisive breaking with the old life, private as well as public. It is then that the die is cast — the solemn commitment made. 106 BAPTISM A MEASURE OF THE FAITH OF CONVERSION as a solemn act of profession that baptism becomes a true measure of the strength of faith. § 4. The Application of the Measure. If a person believes the truth regarding Christ, re- pents of his sins and desires to serve him, and then goes forth with alacrity to make a public profession of his name, it is evident that his faith has been meas- ured, and been found adequate to undertaking the Christian life before the world. But it is possible that the elements of faith may be present in a weaker degree than this. The truth may be believed, the heart may be touched, there may be a real desire to live a better life, and to unite one's self to Christ and enjoy the blessings of his salvation, but this desire may not be strong enough to cause the person to give up all — to snap all ties and bury all joys incompatible with a complete and public surrender. A closet faith need not be heroic; ix. professing faith must be, if the full meaning of profession is realized. There were many examples of this weaker type of faith in Christ's time; for we are told that "even of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God" (John xii. 42, 43). There is no reason to suppose that this faith was mere intellectual assent, and that it did not involve the heart. It is designated by the phrase to believe on, which usually represents true and saving faith. These were not bad men fighting against their convictions, but weak men hesitating to follow their leadings into obloquy and persecution. If we may suppose Nicodemus to have been representative of this class, we have an amiable and truth-loving character, wlio credited Christ's 107 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM claims, and was in sympathy with his work — who be- lieved in him and desired to learn of him — in secret! Here was a faith both of the understanding and of the heart, but it was weak, unheroic. Christ's dealing with him is very instructive. He declined to have any parley with him, but met him abruptly with these de- cisive words: "Yerily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (Jn. iii. 5). We are safe in saying that "born of water" refers to that great act of profession called baptism*, and that Christ informs this man that no faith which has not first carried one to a complete and public surrender will be accepted. Even though Christ had been only a man, he must have seen clearly at that time that the very existence of his kingdom was imperiled by the prevalence of this weak, unheroic faith; and he then and there built a wall against it strong and high, and to endure for all time. It was this : The faith that shall admit one to the Mngdom of God 7nust accredit itself by 'public profession before it will be accepted. No objec- tion is made against this faith of the rulers, except that it was weak. They did love ''the glory of God," but not so much as "the glory of men," and hence they stumbled at profession. Christ demands a strong faith, and therefore a measured faith. The applica- tion of the measure in this case excluded the most in- fluential class of those who believed in him. They were excluded for no other reason than non-pro- fession. If baptism is a measure of the faith of conversion, at what time should it be applied? This is not a mat- ter of indifference. A measure is worthless unless it *See p. 77. 108 BAPTISM A MEASURE OF THE FAITH OF CONVERSION be used; and if it be not used until after that has been decided which it was designed to determine, it can be of no service. When a farmer sells a bushel of wheat he uses a measure to determine the quantity. He must first measure the wheat to know that it is a bushel; and then, when this is determined, he receives his pay for a bushel. He cannot sell it for a bushel, and the buyer is not willing to pay him for a bushel, until it is measured. Thus the measuring becomes a condition in the transaction. But it would not, therefore, be true to say that the farmer receives the pay for the measure, but rather for the loheat which is measured. He receives pay simply for the wheat, for that alone; but he does not receive the pay until the wheat is measured. The wheat will not be received by the pur- chaser until it is measured. So likewise, if there may be faith of various degrees of strength,, and if it be only faith of a certain strength that can be accepted as saving faith, the act of measuring the faith must enter into the transaction, and a man cannot count on having saving faith until he has measured it. Never- theless, it does not follow that he is saved by the measure, but rather hy the faith. With* perfect con- sistency, therefore, baptism, the measuring act, might be a condition of salvation in a system of salvation by faith alone. This would be true, even though baptism possessed no other uses than this. There is no reason why those who advocate justification by faith alone should hesitate to admit that baptism is an antecedent to the granting of that blessing to faith. It would not be adding another condition to faith, but simply determining whether the candidate's faith fills out the required measure. That the faith of a man should be 109 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM measured before it is reckoned for righteousness, is a perfectly natural and necessary procedure, growing out of the fact that justification is not by faith sim- ply, but by an adequate faith. 110 CHAPTER II. BAPTISM AS A RATIFYING ACT. §i. Nature and Uses of Ratification. Closely related to this matter of measurement stands another fact of great importance and wide recognition. We saw in an earlier chapter that the requirement in our courts of law that witnesses shall testify under oath tends greatly to secure truthful- ness; and we may add that this is in a sense the case even with truthful men. The fact that one is to speak under oath causes great carefulness to make each statement strictly accurate. The witness, by a painstaking review of the facts of memory, seeks to recall them fully in their true light; by reference to memoranda or concurrent events he seeks to correct any lapses of memory, and to refresh its hold upon every fact, and then in well-measured and carefully chosen terms, to state the exact truth. All this pains- taking does not appertain to the ordinary statements of even truthful men, so that a solemn oath may not be without its use even with them. It secures, not simply truth-telling, but careful, well-considered, strictly accurate truth-telling. And for this reason in matters of such importance as those dealt with in our courts of law, it is the statement under oath that the court demands and which alone it will accept. The same statement may have chanced previously to be made by the man in the presence of judge and jury, but this will not be accepted. The reason of this is, that the statement under oath is regarded as the more reliable. The court demands the most absolute truth 111 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM and accuracy, and hence takes only the statement under oath. There are many acts in our more important busi- ness transactions that partake largely of the same nature, and which may be spoken of as Ratifications.* A very common error in regard to these is that they are mere forms without any essential mental element. This is strangely incorrect; for they contain mental acts of the most decisive importance. When a man gives a promissory note to another, the language is in the present tense, '''1 promise to pay," not, "I have promised." The note is itself a promise, and it is the pr^omise made in the note that the payee relies upon^ and not any promise previously made. It is in view of this that he delivers the goods into the possession of the other party. A man signs and duly acknowl- edges the deed of a piece of real estate. It is not drawn in the past tense, and does not claim to make good a former transference of possession, but de- clares that the parties giving the deed, "c?o grant, bargain, sell, and convey,'^ the property to the buyer. There is a mental act of conveyance of possession to the other in the giving of the deed; and this mental act is of great and decisive importance, as will be seen by considering that no deed can be made by an insane person, though he may be entirely capable of going through the form of making and acknowledg- ing it. A preliminary understanding may have been fully reached and all done except the giving of the deed; but if the seller be taken suddenly insane, though still able to go through the form of deeding. *I use the word ratification in the broad sense of all that establishes or gives security in business transactions as well as treaties. 112 BAPTISM AS A RATIFYING ACT the transfer cannot be made. And this will be solely for the reason that the seller is not capable of respon- sibly taking the mental step of conveying the prop- erty. There is a mental act of conveying possession in giving a deed, and thrs mental act — not that involved in any preceding agreement — is the one ivhich the buyer accepts and relies upon. The same is true of giving a note. A note cannot be made by an insane person, though he may be perfectly competent to write and sign correctly, because he is not capable of making a responsible promise. It is true that a part of the design of such docu- ments is to bind others into whose hands the transac- tion of business may pass; but they are largely made use of when the expectation is that the person shall fulfill his own pledge; and it is only of such cases that I am speaking. If it be claimed that the only aim of such documents is to secure fulfil hnent through the agency of the law of pledges which the person may refuse or neglect to fulfill himself, it must be answered that this is not correct. This, it is true, is an indirect and remote consideration; but few such transactions would ever be entered into if it were felt that they would end in a lawsuit. The primary and chief purpose of such documents is, that they secure a more certain voluntary fulfillment of the covenanter's pledge. The great object of such securities is to insure the human will against dishonesty, against weakness, against neglect and shiftlessness, and against change. They do this in various ways — usually by exposing the covenanter to some penalty, loss, or inconvenience, and by render- ing any attempt at non-fulfillment futile. A dishonest man may make an oral bargain with 8 113 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM the intention of getting propert}- into his possession, or gaining some advantage, without due return; but if required to give security such as will either necessi- tate fulfillment of his agreement or expose him to even greater loss or inconvenience than such fulfill- ment would involve, he will at once refuse. If, however, he shall return later and offer to give the required security, we shall know that some- thing important has happened — the dishonest pur- pose has given place to an honest one; and the mental act which takes place in the ratification will be sincere and genuine.. Ratification secures a sincere pledge from an insincere man; and the other party now has good reason to believe that he will fulfill hife obligation. The act of will contained in the ratifica- tion is now trusted. But dishonesty of purpose is not the only cause of non-fulfillment of obligations, and those steps which have for their object the insurance of the human will are not confined to such cases. An honest young man proposes to buy a farm. The preliminaries regarding price, times of payments, etc., are all arranged, when the seller informs him that he must have a mortgage. The young man does not understand this, and is told that in case every payment is made on time, the mortgage will have no effect of any kind upon the transaction; but in case he should fail to make his payments as stipulated, the mortgage could be foreclosed, and he would lose both the farm and all he had previously paid. The young man regards this as a very serious matter, and asks time to think it over. He had been ready to close the bargain with the sin- cere intention of fulfilling its every condition, but now he hesitates and desires time to consider. What 114 BAPTISM AS A RATIFYING ACT will he consider? The question of his ability to fulfill his obligations. He asks himself what would be done if crops should fail, if prices should fall, if stock should die, if he should be ill. He faces each con- tingency and looks at it long and searchingly. As he does so, his undertaking appears much more serious and difficult than he at first supposed; and the ques- tion often arises, Shall I not give it up? He sees that success may require not only hard work, but severe seif-denials through many years, and heroic energy such as he has never put forth. He ponders and weighs long and carefully, and at last says, I will. He returns, and signs the mortgage which bargains to pay for the farm under these serious conditions. What has happened? This young man was ready to make the bargain before with an honest purpose; but he was not ready to make it under these conditions. A tveak, ill-co)isidered purpose has been changed to a strong, heroic purpose, A purpose which was inadequate for so serious an undertaking has been changed into one which is adequate. The young man may never have put forth a strong act of will before. This required security has drawn a heroic purpose from an unheroic youth. The act of will put forth in giving this se- curity is the one which the law accepts and which the seller accepts — and it should be so, for it is worth vastly more than the other. But this counting the cost and reaching a well- considered, heroic purpose is not the only effect that this security is to have on the young man's will. It will also jsafeguard it against change. The young man is honest, but honesty is sometimes a matter of strength of character. Under stress of great difficul- ties even an honest desire to fulfill one's obligations 115 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM may give way. But even though the time shall never come when the young man will cease to intend to fulfill his obligations, it is quite possible that there may be a diminution of his energy. Will-force is very fluctu- ating. We are sometimes much stronger than at others. The tendencies to neglect and ease-taking or pleasure-seeking furnish a well-nigh universal tempta- tion to relax effort. The seller of the farm must be protected against this danger. The security which the young man gives will do this; for the same jeopardy which raised his purpose up to the heroic point still exists and tends to hold it there. In giving the mort- gage the young man has burned the bridge behind him, and he cannot retreat without disaster. There may be many times, through the coming years of strug- gle, when he will be tempted to give up the effort, but the thought of losing all holds him to his purpose, and at last, scarred by toil and hardship, he wins the battle. He has won two prizes — a home, and mighty- hearted manhood; and it has all come of his giving security. The security had first the eifect to raise his will to heroic strength; and this well-considered, strong purpose was, from its very nature, in the least degree subject to remission, while it received continual re-enforcement through the continued jeopardy which the security imposed. The moral effect of security is, therefore, (1) to render purpose honest, (2) to cause a careful counting of the cost, (3) to raise purpose to the adequate degree of strength, and (4) to safeguard it from change. ' Many of the transactions of ordinary business life are so small, and involve so little loss in case of non- fulfillment, that they are permitted to pass without security; but in all more important covenants and con- 116 BAPTISM AS A RATIFYING ACT tracts means are resorted to to render fulfillment more certain through an insurance of the human will. And it is the act of will which takes place in giving these securities that both the law and the other contracting party accept and rely upon. This is evident from the fact that insanity renders all such acts nugatory. From the fact that this mental act is the one that is trusted, it follows that the property stipulated in the contract is not given into possession until after this trusted mental act takes place. If a note for money is being given, the money is not paid over until the note is duly signed and delivered. There is a seeming exception to this in cases where a small part of the sum stipulated is advanced for the purpose of binding a bargain or some other object. But this forms really no exception; for the amount thus advanced is small, while the object of security is to protect large inter- ests. Such prepayments belong to the category of such small transactions as require no security. It is important to note also that if the delivery of the possessions were to take place before the ratifying act, its value would well-nigh, if not wholly, be de- stroyed. ' The great reason, in cases where the promis- ing party is expected to e^cute his own pledge, why security is required, is that so great a stake cannot be risked on his unsupported promise. But this is just what would be done if the property were transferred to him before security is given. If parties were to take each other as husband and wife before the mar- riage act, it would render that act worthless ^nd result in nothing short of the overthrow of society. To transfer possession before ratification is to sacrifice the very object for which ratification is required. 117 MOKAL AND SPIKITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM § 2. An Act of the Nature of Ratification is Needed 171 the Covenant of the Soid with God. The bearing of all this on the divine-human cove- nant is very important. It is universally recognized that the infirmities of the human will are too great to admit of its being trusted in the more important mat- ters of business, unless the contracting act of will he caused to tahe place under conditions that will render it not only honesty hut strong, ivell-considered, and perma- nent. Now, while it is not probable that any one will ever seek to enter into covenant with God with fraudu- lent designs, and by sharp practice obtain the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and at last heaven itself, it is possible tliat all the other forms of incom- petency may characterize the act of will by which the soul may surrender itself to God and devote itself to his service. The convert may not thoroughly count the cost, the strength of his purpose may be insufficient, and that purpose may be subject to change. The question then arises. Shall all more important business transac- tions take place only on the basis of an insured will, while the greatest and most weighty covenant in all the soul's history shall be abandoned to the uncertain- ties of human weakness aod shiftlessness? While the business world must have a man's best and mightiest purpose, and takes measures to secure it, shall the greatest transaction of all rest on an inferior purpose, and no measures be taken to secure the best? If the covenanting act of the human will with God is to be the best of which the convert is capable, it must take place under conditions which will render it strong and well-considered, and secure as much as possible its permanency. Are there any conditions in the religious sphere which correspond, in their effect upon the will, 118 BAPTISM AS A RATIFYING ACT with security or ratification in the secular world? There are principal!}^ two : One of these is Publicity — the embodiment of the mental act of surrender to Christ and devotement to his service in an appointed act of profession. It is publicity that gives security to nearly all forms of rati- fication. A deed must be recorded in the official records to make it valid. It is a published bargain. A promissory note drives all its validity from publicity. The law takes cognizance of an oral contract and en- forces it whenever it can be proved, but the difficulty is to prove it. The written note in the hands of the payee can be shown to whomsoever he will, and to the very authorities that will enforce its collection. It is potentially a published bargain, and herein lies its great value as security. In the marriage ceremony the mental act of taking each other as husband and wife, by the parties, is made to take place publicly; and be- tween the act so taking place and the same act allowed to take place privately would lie all the differ- ence between social well-being and a profound moral disaster to society. This mental act taking place in a duly appointed form of public profession is worth vastly more than the same act without such protecting conditions. The publicity causes caution in taking the step, with a more complete and well-considered com- mitment to lifelong union, and cuts off the possibility of retreat without disgrace. For these reasons moral society, in view of the sacred interests involved, de- mands that no such giving and taking shall be recog- nized except when embodied in a public act of profes- sion. Precisely the same principles are involved in a public religious profession. It puts purpose to a cer- tain strain. It is crossing a line forever in the sight of 119 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM all men. It is a great step profoundly changing the subject's relation to his fellowmen. It will not be taken hastily or without counting the cost, nor without a struggle. From it there can be no retreat without disgrace. The act of will involved in such a step is strong enough to face the world. A will less strong will be turned back until it gains the necessary strength; and then it will be a mighty-hearted act of the soul. Those who have baptized many know what this means to them. It is an awful moment. It is the best and mightiest act of willing of which the soul is capable. Afterward, the public profession tends to insure this commitment against change. A tall, strong spirit, a foremost leader with voice and pen among the Disciples of Christ, and one of the purest and most devout of men, who has now passed to his reward, said before a public audience, some years before his death, that there had been times of darkness and discouragement in his religious life when he believed he would have given up all and been lost, but for the fact that he had solemnly professed Christ before the world. When the heart sank, honor had come to the rescue until the darkness had passed and the heavens grew bright again. He had burned the bridge behind him; there was no retreat except across his prostrate honor. The mental act by which he had given himself to Christ in his baptisnl, was insured. It was his best and mightiest at the time, and it was safe-guarded against change. But there is another condition that may add value to that mental act by which we enter into covenant with God. If the act of profession be one of pro- found sacredness and impressiveness, it will cause great thoughtfulness and a deepened sense of obliga- 120 BAPTISM AS A RATIFYING ACT tion when taking it; it will help the soul to its holiest surrender. Were the mental act of surrender to Christ embodied simply in some form of oral profes- sion— confession with the mouth — it would not be the best of which the soul is capable. It would lack the infinite pathos of burial with Christ and the pro- founder sense of death to sin and resurrection to righteousness. Christian baptism is vastly more thrill- ing and exalting than verbal confession, and the soul should be at its best when passing into Christ. There will be higher, holier surrender under such conditions. It will be the soul's best. Now, in view of human weakness, thoughtlessness and changeable- ness, — of the great unreliability of the human will, — and in consideration of the vast interests at stake, should not Christ demand the soul's best before be- stowing upon it all the blessings of redemption and counting it saved? In all ages and climes the unre- liability of the human will has been recognized as rendering it unfit to be trusted in important covenants and business transactions without subjecting it to cer- tain bracing influences; and only those acts of will which take place under such conditions are trusted in important matters. Is what is not good euough for business good enough for the soul's eternal welfare? The placing of remission of sins before baptism is thought to be in the interest of spirituality; it is in the interest of spiritual shiftlessness and self-decep- tion. It admits to salvation on a half purpose. It offers heaven's best, and takes man's poorest. In all important business the will is insured; in the cove- nant with God it should be insured— made the best and safest possible. Baptism for remission of sins 121 MOEAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM means man's highest, holiest surrender for the remis- sion of sins. In view of this principle, what should be done with the penitent who, on his knees in his closet, shall sur- render himself to Christ? Doubtless such an act should have some effect on the divine attitude toward him, and would be accepted as the sweet incense of a penitent heart; but the conditions are not such as to render this the strongest and holiest surrender of which the soul is capable, and the issues are so great as to demand the best. According to a principle rec- ognized and acted upon by the entire human race, through all time, the bestowment of the great bless- ings of redemption should await the mighty-hearted, well-buttressed and safe-guarded surrender which takes place in a solemn act of profession. Baptism is such an act, and therefore the true point of ac- cepted surrender. It should be, as the Scriptures make it, the covenanting act between the soul and its God. This statement of the situation, however, may not be quite true to the facts. If baptism be the point of acceptable surrender, the tendency will be to make it the point of primary surrender, and to hasten the act to the sours need for that purpose. When a man and woman desire to take each other as husband and wife, they would do so the moment the desire arises, if such a step could be morally and legally taken in private. But as this cannot be, they hasten the marriage act as much as possible to suit their con- venience, and then both mentally and formally take each other as husband and wife in that act. The mental act which takes place in marriage has never taken place before. The most that the parties have 122 BAPTISM AS A RATIFYING ACT ever done was to promise that they would take this step. To claim that the mental step taken in mar- riage has previously taken place in the engagement, is to speak very loosely, and confound promise with ful- fillment. The human mind is disinclined to attempt what is impossible. A mother may be hourly expect- ing the return of a long-absent child, whom she longs to embrace, but she will not, therefore, rush to the door before the child arrives, and hug vacancy. Her caress, both mental and physical, will await the child's appearance. So of surrender to, and entrance into union with, Christ. It will not be likely to take place where Christ has not promised to meet the soul in acceptance, but will hasten to make that strong-hearted, well-fortified surrender which he has appointed to take place in baptism. If, however, the heart should overflow and cast itself at the feet of Christ before that time, it should know that its emo- tion and moral force have not been measured, and that the mental act of commitment on which the whole future life is to rest, and in view of which the unspeakable blessings of salvation are to be granted, should be the best considered, strongest, holiest and best protected act of the entire life; and it should, with much carefulness, with fear and trembling, with high and holy resolve, with yearning affection, pass into union with Christ under those conditions which will both measure the spiritual act and render it strongest. Baptism is by its nature the spirit's pro- foundest and strongest commitment to Christ. The great surrender should be a condition of the great salvation. 123 CHAPTER III. WHY BAPTISM SHOULD BE AN ANTECEDENT CONDITION OF SALVATION. It has doubtless occurred to the thoughtful reader, ere this, to ask one question. A moment's reflection will reveal the fact that at least two of the objects of ratification, as herein set forth, are accomplished be- fore the act itself takes place. It is the requirement of a public profession of Christ which causes (a) the careful counting of the cost, and (b) the strength- ening of the purpose to take that step ; and these things are accomplished, not in the act of profession, but before it. This is a fact of some importance, and not to be overlooked in an investigation like this. If the requirement of a complete and public surrender of the world-life causes a struggle in reaching the deter- mination to take the step, and if through this strug- gle the weaker faith reaches the stage of heroic strength and efficiency, why does not the mere fact of reaching such a purpose adequately measure the faith? And if the formation of such a purpose measure the faith, determining it to be of the requisite strength, why not count it for righteousness at that point? Why not, therefore, decide that, as soon as faith rises in the heart and reaches the point of resolving to face the world in an act of profession, renouncing all, the sinner shall be accepted and accounted saved? It might be so if we could decide affirmatively one ques- tion: Does the resolution to take a step always in- volve the same itiental force as the taking of the step itself? Does it subject the will to the same strain? 124 , BAPTISM AN ANTECEDENT CONDITION OF SALVATION If it always does, it forms a reliable measure of the mental force required for the act. Does it? It must be confessed that in many cases such is the case; while, in many others, it is very far from being so; and these two classes of cases are differentiated by a very important principle. § /. The Degree of Power which we Possess in Any Direction is not a Matter of Consciousness, hut of Experimental Discovery. A laboring man engages to work a month for a cer- tain contractor. He is accustomed to the kind of work which he will be required to do, and knows just how much strength it will demand, and that he pos- sesses that strength. He knows, also, how much co- native force and resolution are necessary for the exe- cution of his task, since he has done such work many times before. After due deliberation, he decides pos- itively that he will perform the work. Just such de- cisions have carried him through many a similar un- dertaking, and he has the best of reasons for believing that his present resolution is entirely equal to the task. Physical strength, skill, and resolution are all suffi- cient; and he knows this. He knows both the work and himself by actual experience; and, if he goes about it immediately, there is little danger of failure, either in resolution or power. But let us suppose that a very di:fferent proposition is presented to him. His country is attacked by a foe, and he is asked to go to her defense. He enters the army as a raw recruit. He intends to fight bravely. Will he do so? No one knows; he himself does not know. When he meets the enemy, he may take fright and flee like a coward. If he is very sure of himself, and boasts much of his valor, we are led to suspect it; if he is quiet, with a 125 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM humble estimate of his courage, we shall not be sur- prised to find him the hero of the hour. Many a brag- gart is a coward, and many a quiet, unassuming man is a hero in a crisis. The self-estimation evidently can not guide us here. Why not? The amount offorce^ in any direction, which a man possesses is not a matter' of consciousness f b ut of experimental discovery. The boy cannot tell how far he can leap until he tries it; the man cannot tell how much he can lift till he tries it. In perpetual darkness, we should never discover that we had the sense of sight; nor, in absolute silence, the sense of hearing. In 1861, a certain tanner lived at Galena, III. The war of the rebellion broke out. He joined the fight- ing hosts. He rose higher, higher, higher. Then the eye of the nation was upon him. At last, the great army of the Union was given into his hands. He con- quered— after all others had failed. He carved his name high as the greatest general of his time. But the world did not know this in 1861 ; and he did not know it, for he was a humble man — humble as are the great. Had the war not occurred. Grant the tanner would never have known Grant the general. He knew, in 1861, that he had some courage, some mental ability, sOme judgment, some skill; but he did not know that these mental qualities towered so high in his character as to rank him with the greatest generals of the world; and he could never know this until he put them to the test. Every young man's life is a progress of experimental self-discovery. The occupations which men choose usually reflect their best judgment of themselves; and what a commentary this, on the principle we are con- sidering! Benjamin Franklin chooses the trade of a 126 BAPTISM AN ANTECEDENT CONDITION OP SALVATION journeyman printer. Galileo chose the profession of medicine, and it was not until afterward, while en- gaged in some art studies requiring a knowledge of geometry, that he discovered himself. Dwight L. Moody felt that possibly he might succeed as a shoe- clerk; and as little dreamed that he was the greatest evangelist of the age, as that he was the angel Gab^^l. Are not the galleries of biography full of such cases? Wordsworth believed that most of the best poets are never discovered, and wrote: "Nor having e'er, as life advanced, been led By circumstance to take unto the height The measure of themselves, these favored beings, All but a scattered few, live out their time, Husbanding that which they possess within, And go to the grave unthought of. Strongest minds Are often those of whom the noisy world Hears least." On the other hand, we know but too well that many of those who attempt the muse have mistaken their powers. In seeking the less ambitious occupations, also,- overestimation is probably quite as common as underestimation. These cases are not likely to find their way into history, but the business and profes- sional world is strewn with such failures. No such misjudgments, either way, need ever occur, if the amount of a man's ability in any direction were a matter of consciousness. In those respects in which a man has tried himself, he knows his power, and in no other. The laborer who engaged to do a month's work knew the measure of his force, both physical and mental, in that direction; and his resohition to perform it was a sufficient warrant of its fulfillment, because he had already had simihir experience. But 127 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM when a youth determines to achieve the work of a great statesman, he may feel very sure that he will accomplish it, but we know that most such resolutions are ill-founded. It requires vastly more ability, even in the matter of wilU to do the high work of a states- man than to resolve to do it. It requires more valor to face an enemy in battle than to resolve to do so. It is a law of the human mind, that the measure of its. force, in any direction, is a matter of experimental discovery, and cannot be determined by introspection. So far as we have been put to the test, we know our power, but no further. § 2. The New-Born Faith of the Convert is Sub- ject to this Law. The convert's faith is a new and untried force in his life. It has never been there before, and he has no experience regarding its power. He knows that he believes Jesus to be the Messiah, that his affections go out to him, that he has the spirit of consecration to his service. He may enter his closet, and fall upon his knees in devout prayer and surrender to him. So far he knows his faith; he knows, at least, that it is beautiful sentiment. But is it more? Is it a strong force? He may think so, but he cannot know. How strong must it be? The strongest force in his life, and capable of controlling and subduing every other. It must be strong enough to snap all opposing earthly ties and bear him forth upon a life of moral heroism, or founder at the very start. It must be the motive force behind a new life of trial and great difficulty. Is it meet for this? If not, it cannot do faith's work in saving the soul — cannot be saving faith. It con- tains a resolution to do all this. It is the stronger for 128 BAPTISM AN ANTECEDENT CONDITION OF SALVATION this, bat does this resolution adequately measure its strength? On the night of his betrayal, in the quiet of the Mount of Olives, Jesus said to his disciples: *'All ye shall be offended in me this night; for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter answered and said unto him, If all men shall I)e offended in thee, I will never be offended. Jesus said unto him. Verily I say unto thee, that this night, be- fore the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter saith unto him. Even if I must die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples" (Mt. xxvi. 31-35). A few hours after, they had all forsaken him, and Peter, with curses and oaths on his lips, had denied him thrice. Can anyone question the sincerity of these disciples when making this pledge? Had they not also most solemnly and im- pressively been put on their guard, and warned that there was trouble in prospect? Did they not love the Master? Did they not believe in him? and were they not devoted to him? All this was true, and they knew it to be so, but they did not know how strong their resolve was. A few hours more, and all was over ; they had fled. It is written in lurid lines, and let all men heed the warning: Danger here! An earnest purpose made but a few hours before, in the quiet of the Mount of Olives, flies like chaff before the wind in the judgment hall of Christ's enemies. In the light of this appalling fact, how dare we say to the man who, on his knees in the quiet of his closet, may devote himself to Christ, resolving that he will after- wg,rd confess him before his enemies — that his faith is 9 129 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM a world-facing faith? How shall we say that a reso- lution in the seclusion of the closet is equal in force to a profession before' men? But before we leave this appalling example, given for our admonition, let us note one other fact con- cerning it, which is of great significance. The reso- lution of these disciples to stand by the Master, even unto death, was not strong enough for the purpose — but they did not hnow this. They were completely self-deceived. So strong was their assurance that they — probably for the first time — called in question the Master's own words, who solemnly and sadly told them of their weakness. They were also firm believ- ers in the truth of their Scriptures, and Jesus had showed them that these Scriptures had predicted their fall. Yet, in face of all this, they renewed their as- surance in the most positive teruis. The truth stands out in bold relief, that there is a strong tendency in the human mind to self-deception at this point— so strong that, in this case, the word of the Master himself could not dissipate it. Lord Bacon taught that there are certain constitutional in- firmities, or biasing tendencies of the human mind, — called by him *'idola," — which must be guarded against if man would conquer nature. Men of science, in their physical researches, have sought to guard against these tendencies; and the human intel- lect has gone forth on a career of brilliant discovery. Are there no such defects — no "idola" — in the mind's action on religious subjects? They glare upon us from every side. The heart is the very hot-bed of such de- ceptions. A greater than Bacon has declared it to be ''deceitful above all things"; but the deceit is so pro- found that it is undiscovered, and even the watchmen 130 BAPTISM AX ANTECEDENT CONDITION OF SALVATION on the walls of Zion do not give the alarm, but are persuaded that a resolution in the closet to profess Christ before the world, is a safe measure of saving faith. Shall we go on forever stumbling into the pit where Peter fell, never even dreaming that it is not safe? In evangelistic work the writer has often watched persons in his audience giving, night after night, eager attention to the truth spoken, and seeming to be deeply moved by it. He has then visited these per- sons at their homes and found their hearts tender. They had realized their sin, had sorrowed over it, and had determined to forsake it — they had repented, and had resolved to give themselves up to the Master's service. I have said to them, When will you profess the Saviour? * 'To-night," has often been the reply. The evening came, the invitation was given, but they did not come. Persons have been known to come, evening after evening, with the intention of profess- ing Christ, to stand pale during the invitation, to go away without doing it, and finally never to do it. The opposition, the contumely, the ridicule, of old asso- ciates, which they knew would follow such a step, stayed their feet when they would come to Christ. Their resolution in the quiet of their homes was not equal, as a measure of their faith, to a public profes- sion before the world. Such a faith as theirs could not live the Christian life before men. Had I said to them, in the quiet of their homes: Only believe; give yourself up to Christ, and take him as your Redeemer, and that moment you are saved — they would have done so at once; and, on a faith which could not carry them one step in the Christian life before the world, and which could not break the earthly ties 131 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM which Christ declares must be broken before one can become his disciple. Had I done this, I should have done them a great wrong; I should have deceived them. I should have cried peace in the midst of danger. So unreliable is the purpose to profess, even when made with a view to speedy fulfillment. But the case is far worse when the profession is contemplated at some indefinite time in the future. The very fact of postponement argues unfavorably, and strongly im- plies that the heart is not ready. The purpose to be- come a follower of Christ and profess his name is sometimes formed even years before repentance, so far is it from being a true criterion of the state of tho heart. We have therefore, in this, no reliable measure of the strength of faith. The purpose may be weak or strong, but its strength cannot be determined by looking within. The law which determines that tht^ power of new and untried faculties of our nature cannot be measured by introspection, but only by acts which call forth their strength, finds no exception in the convert's faith. It is a new force within the life, and, like all such forces, must be measured by trial. The puddle looks as deep as the sky, and seems to embosom the stars; but stir it, and you discover its shallowness. Thus, a law of the human mind demands that an act embodying the common strain of the Christian life should be provided at this point of the convert's ex- perience. Such an act is Christian profession. If the gospel be preached faithfully, and baptism be repre- sented in its full and true character, as a complete severance (burial) from the old life and entrance upon a new, it will form a true and adequate measure 132 BAPTISM AN ANTECEDENT CONDITION OF SALVATION" of the convert's faith. That faith may be strong or weak. If strong, it will proceed at once to profession ; if weak, it should be halted at this point and com- pelled to rise to the higher level, and assured of no acceptance till it does. Of course, it were possible for God to inform the convert of the real value of his faith by a divine com- munication; but, unless this were accredited b}^ some decisive miracle, it would open the way to all the ex- travagances of mysticism. Whatever might be thought of the method of miraculous revelation, it is certain that God has not chosen that way. Instead, he has appointed at this stage of conversion an act which subjects faith to the common strain of the Christian life, and thereby proves its adequacy for the new undertaking; and has, with perfect consistency, placed at this point its acceptance. That a man should be permitted to count himself saved before he knows that he has saving faith, would be absurd. Profes- sion (baptism) is the divine measure of such faith. Baptism, as a condition of remission of sins, is a legitimate sequence of the doctrine of salvation by an adequate faith. If it be asked whether it would not be better to accept the sinner's faith, however weak, and then help him to reach the higher stage, rather than leave him to struggle alone till he reaches it, I have only to say that there is no such alternative. The incipient believer is not without help where he stands. He is under the play of mighty influences designed to raise him from the lowest depths of sin and bring him to the point of professing Christ. The Holy Spirit is not yet given as an indwelling guest, but it does not follow that He is idle and is not doing all that is best 133 MORAI. AXD SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM at this point. Pardon is not yet granted, but its withholding is a tremendous motive to strengthen resolve. Take care how you remove this mighty gospel force at this point! To count the convert saved and admit him to all the privileges of divine sonship at this stage would not be to itn prove his condition, but to make it vastly worse. There is a mighty gospel force now operating to overcome the very defect that must be mastered before he can reach the point where Christ will accept him — that of forsaking all for Christ (Lk. xiv. 26,27); and the assurance of salvation at this stage would nullify that force. What was it that arrested his steps when in the midst of the sinful life, but the thought that he was lost? Shall that powerful motive, which has brought him thus far, be now withdrawn, leaving him stranded with a half-faith? He is still lost if the faith that saves must be a world-conquering force. Shall one of the mightiest forces of the gospel to lift him to a practical faith be now withdrawn? What enemies are like those who hide us from ourselves and charm us with siren songs in the presence of danger! Chris- tianity is not simply love, it is wise love, it is sure- footed love, it is great statesmanship. But great statesmanship is more than sentiment; it involves a just measurement of forces to the attainment of ends. Faith is one of the forces of salvation. It has something to do. When it is capable of fulfilling its purpose, it is counted; when it is not, the sinner is turned back until this factor is supplied in something more than a sentimental degree. Justification is by a faith which is capable of filling faith's ofiSce. Christianity is in earnest; it is intent on £:ccomplish- 134 BAPTISM AN ANTECEDENT CONDITION OF SALVATION ing its purpose. It is not playing at human salvation. It means to ^ake man out of sin; and it cannot count him saved, till his faith is something more than a beautiful sentiment. §^. All Objection: Wliat loill become of those Who Die before Baptism? It remains to consider an objection which is often urged against the doctrine of baptism as a condition of the remission of sins. If a man's sins are not remitted, and if he is not saved until he is baptized, what will become of him if he should die before he has an opportunity to be bap- tized? If his opportunities for salvation are limited to this life, as is so generally held, and if he goes into eternity unsaved, must he not be lost? On the other hand, if he would not in this case be lost, does it not follow that he was in a saved state before his death, and consequently before his baptism? And if one man may be saved before baptism, why not all? If baptism, as a condition of remission of sins, in- volves the consequence that any who may die before they are able to be baptized will be lost, it is useless to deny that it is a horrible doctrine, and that if true, it ought not to be. Perhaps it will help us to realize the situation if it be said that baptism is not alone obnoxious to this objec- tion, but that faith in Christ involves the same diffi- culty in its most appalling form. If faith in Christ be a condition of salvation, and if there be no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved (Acts iv. 12), what will become of the man who is living up to the light he has, to the best of his ability, and who would gladly accept Christ if he had the opportunity, but who dies without the knowledge of 135 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM him? Will he be lost? This is a very serious ques- tion when we consider that but a small fraction of the human race have ever heard of Christ, and that where there is one penitent person who dies before baptism is possible, there are millions of truth-loving souls who pass into eternity without a knowledge of Christ. The question in its most appalling form lies, not against baptism, but against faith. Will the good man who dies without having an opportunity to be- lieve in Christ be lost? If so, it is a horrible doc- trine; if not, then will it not follow that he was saved before his death, without faith in Christ? and, if one may be so saved, why not all? and how is faith a con- dition of salvation if millions may be saved without it? When we have disposed of this difficulty, wc shall find that the objection in regard to baptism has also been answered. If those multitudes who have no opportunity to believe in Christ may be saved without faith in him, while faith in him still remains a condition of salvation, why may not the penitent, dying before baptism, be saved without it, while bap- tism still remains a condition of salvation? Or if those truth-loving persons who would gladly accept Christ if they had the opportunity, will be permitted to do so in eternity and then be accepted on such faith, why may not the penitent who had not the op- portunity to make a profession here, be permitted to profess Christ before the heavenly hosts in some suit- able way that God may determine, and be accepted on such profession? Faith and baptism stand in pre- cisely the same relation to the difficulty involved in the limit of probation, and the reasoning that would sweep away baptism as a condition of remission, would carry faith with it in the same ruin. 136 BAPTISM AN ANTECEDENT CONDITION OF SALVATION But these considerations do not quite answer the question in rehition to the person whose faith is too feeble to bear him forward to profession. The rea- son why he does not profess Christ is not that he has not the opportunity, but that he is not ready. There is need of some spiritual increment in his case before profession is possible. If while struggling for more faith death should overtake him, would he be lost? Without question, such a conclusion would be revolt- ing. But does not the doctrine of salvation by an adequate faith necessitate it? We read of the **spirits of just men made perfect." This spiritual perfecting does not take place before death, for none are perfect in this life. If spiritual completion be- longs to the future world, it may well include those whose faith is passing to its higher stage; or that passage may be consummated through the profound moral influence of death itself. Even the facing of death by wicked men bears in upon them with tre- mendous religious power, shaking them with terror and quickening the conscience. What will be the moral influences of death we cannot know, but that momentous change cannot be without them. The Scriptures know nothing of any doctrine of probation that would deny to an ascending faith a chance to reach its goal. Thus, the doctrine of salvation by an adequate faith, measured by baptism as a solemn act of pro- fession, involves no greater difficulties than the doc- trine of salvation by faith without regard to its strength, while it has the double recommendation that it possesses a sweet reasonableness and is sup- ported by Scriptural authority. Not only do the Scriptures teach clearly that baptism is a condition of 137 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM the remission of sins, but the doctrine of justification by an adequate faith — which they also unquestionably teach — shows why it should be so. They furnish the rational postulate for their own complete vindication. Baptism is a measure of spiritual quantity; spiritual quantity entitles to salvation; the measure is useless unless applied before acceptance. Faith is the spir- itual condition of salvation; baptism, as an act of profession, is the measuring condition. 138 PART III. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REMISSION. Any justification of the reasons underlying the Scriptural doctrine of baptism in order to the remis- sion of sins, must be incomplete without some consider- ation of the nature of that divine act which the Script- ures call Remission. It is believed that most of the objections which are supposed to lie against this doc- trine have their origin in an inadequate conception of what we are to understand by "remission of sins."* But have we any data for such an examination be- yond the bare statements of the Scriptures on the subject? How is it possible for us to look into the divine Mind and take note of its workings? This we cannot do, but we are taught that we are made in the image of God, and this has vast corroboration in the fact that we can follow the divine thoughts in nature. The laws of nature are God's thoughts, and we can understand them. The horse or dog cannot under- stand the mechanism of a watch, but the child can do so because its mind is like that of the maker. When we are told in the Scriptures of God's justice, love and truth, we look within our own minds for the *It has been recently claimed by some that "remission of sins" means severance from the love and practice of sin ^ and that "jus- tification" means a rightening, or viaking righteous; but it does not seem to me that sound exegesis supports these senses. In this investigation I shall use these terms in their usual sense, "remission" signifying discharge from penalty, forgiveness, par- don. See Webster's International Dictionary, the Standard Dic- tionary, and Thayer's N. T. Greek Lexicon under aphesis. 139 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM meaning which we are to attach to these terms. If they do not mean with God what they mean with us, revelation is a bhmk. But, most of all, God has given to us in the incarnation the ''express image of his person." We have known this Being and found his character to be that of a noble and perfect man. His mind was like our minds in all that is best in them. These facts may form the basis for certain reverent and careful reasonings on this subject, espe- cially such as are in support or illustration of the manifest teachings of the Scriptures. We can only understand God through the workings of our own minds, and it is certainly legitimate to question their instinctive operations with close care when they seem to antagonize the teachings of the Scriptures. What, then, is the nature of that divine act which we variously call pardon, forgiveness, remission, as judged from our own mental constitution? When one person wrongs another, it is natural for the injured party to feel angry, or offended. If this were the only effect upon us of an offending act, and if our anger were permitted to act without restraint, we should proceed at once to execute vengeance. With savages and certain men of a lower type, this is what actually takes place. But in nobler minds, an offending act will be followed by a mixed result. The offender will not cease to be loved, and pity and mercy will struggle with anger. The understanding will then be called in to decide upon a course to be pursued in view of all the circumstances, and of the conflicting feelings. When this decision is reached, the will adopts it; the mind says to itself, I will do this. In this act of the will, the mental process reaches its consummation, and it remains only to 140 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REMISSION carry into execution tlie mind's decision. In this pro- cess there have been: (1) a single feeling; (2) a conflict of feelings resulting in a complex emotion; (3) intellection; and (4) decision, or an act of the will. In just what course these steps will issue, we cannot definitely predict, but, if the offended party be just, no})le and benevolent, and possessed of wisdom, the offender's relation to him will be determined by these qualities. There will certainly be a painful breach between them, and, if the wronged one be in a posi- tion of authority, he may decide upon some form of punishment, or, if not, may deliver the offender up to the constituted authorities! These things he will have a rigid to do, and may do them from a sense of duty to both the offender and others. Now, if under these circumstances the wronged party learns that the offender has repented of his wrong, a change will take phice in his own mind. He will not be able to avoid this. A spirit of revenge bordering on an insane passion might not be thus affected, but this would not be normal. The repent- ance of an enemy will have an effect on the state of feeling of every well-constituted mind, and this effect will follow immediately. Even if the injured one were commanded not to feel differently, or to postpone his change of feeling, he could not do it. According to a law of his mental constitution, the effect of the repentance must be as certain as was that of the offense, and it will begin to take place regardless of time-setting. But what will the effect of this repentance be? Its first effect will be to dispel the anger, or feeling of offense, and replace it by a feeling of approval. 141 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM Is this chauge of feeling jn the mind of the injured party what is meant by remission? If so, remission would be very far from even mentally disposing of the case. It cannot properly be called remission, or pardon. The effect of the repentance on the injured man's mind has just begun. What it will be when completed does not yet appear. The mind is not all feeling, and this is not the only feeling that will share in determining the result. A part of the change involved in remission has taken place and the relations of the parties are more pleasant, but there are certain other faculties yet to act upon the case, and these faculties often demand that the feeling shall not have its way — at least without modification or restraint. As the result of the offense was complex, so may that of the repentance be also. Shall the injured party at once erase the unpleasant past and fully reinstate the offender in his former relations? Whether he shall do so or not, it is important to note that he has not done so, and has not even decided to do so. But is he not in justice bound to do so? He is not injustice bound to pardon the offender at all, much less on any particular condition.* God's pardon of sin is not an act of justice, but of mercy. Pardon is always an act of clemency. We are saved by grace (favor), if *If repentance rendered a man innocent, he could justly claim to be so treated, but nothing is clearer than that it does not. The readings of conscience are, that guilt remains after repent- ance. Compunction, which is the inward sting of guilt, con- tinues after repentance, and has sometimes been so intense as to drive men into the confession of secret crimes, that they might suffer the penalty. Repentance does not change compunction into simple sorrow, but the self-blame continues, and punishment is accepted as just. Zacchaeus makes restitution with a penal overplus. This pain of conscience, which repentance does not dispel, casts its shadow on eternity and begets the apprehension of punishment at the hands of a righteous God; and it is this 142 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REMISSION at all. But can God be the loving Being that he is and not pardon the penitent? Certainly not; but this transfers pardon from justice to love; and love will pardon the sinner at just such time and on just such conditions as shall be seen, in accordance with divine wisdom, to be for his own best welfare and that of others concerned. But this matter of best welfare opens up a large question for consideration, which may, or may not, result in the pardoning of the sinner on his mere repentance.* Let it now be noted that the repentance, as the offense had done before it, has called into action sev- eral faculties of the injured party's mind, and that the same faculties are affected in both cases, and in the same order. The wrong act had first called forth anger, but this was curtailed, and subordinated to love; then this complex feeling called the intellect into action to decide what was best, and then the will decided to do that best thing. The repentance ap- peals also first to the feeling of anger, and quiets the emotion. As the anger, if it had not been subordin- ated to another feeling, would have issued directly in revenge, so this remission of anger would, if operat- ing alone, result in the immediate reinstatement of that lies behind the efforts at expiation in all ages, which con- sist in some kind of self-inflicted penalty, vicarious or personal. Whether a righteous God can, if he will, excuse the sinner without some atoning act, I do not propose to consider. Certain it is that the penitent has no just claim to remission. * There are many cases in our human relations which may seem to call for postponement. It may often be deemed best to await the penitent's acknowledgment of his wrong and profes- sion of repentance (Lk. xvii. 4). If the wrong consist in an act of theft, the return of the stolen property may be first demanded. A parent may require a child to forgive some one else as a con- dition of his own forgiveness, as God requires us to forgive if we would be forgiven (Mt. vi. 14, 15). Other conditions may be made necessary by the nature of cases which may arise. 143 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM the offender. But love steps in, as before, and asks if it is best. Here an exercise of the understanding is called for, and after this, the will must act on its report. The mind must say to itself, I will do this. Ill view of all the consid.ei^ations I will release him. Not till then has the injured party disposed of the matter in his own mind. It is in this act of the will that the pardon lies, though some of the changes which it involves have already taken place. If it shall appear that, in justice to others, or out of re- gard to the offender's own welfare, the pardon should not be granted on his mere repentance without some further condition, the mind will await the fulfillment of this condition, and then, but not till then, will it say to itself, I now drop the matter. Not till now does the mental act of pardon take place. Not till now does the mind, with the full consent of all its faculties, decide the offender's release.* What, now, let us ask, will be the effect, respective- ly, of this change of feeling and this act of will on the relations and destiny of the wrong-doer? A man has committed an atrocious murder. The trial clearly establishes his guilt and shows that he was perfectly sane in the act. The indignation of the community is so great that, were it not for their re- spect for law, they would rise and execute summary vengeance. The prisoner is sentenced to execution at an appointed date. But the keepers soon discover a change in his mental state, and after a time become fully convinced that he has sincerely repented of his * Another mental act, transitive in the social sense, will take place when, in some form of expression^ release is bestowed upon the offender. This is also called pardon. It is pardon, not simply as mental decision, but as bestowal, and is the sense in which the word is more commonly understood. 144 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REMISSION crime. This knowledge reaches the governor and he also believes in the man's repentance, and immediate- ly his feelings toward him are changed. Should he have occasion to visit the prison and meet the con- demned, he would speak very kindly to him, and his tone and manner would indicate his sympathy. He would also be glad to do him any favor, or give him any help that would be consistent with his duty as chief magistrate of the state; but it is safe to say that he will not pardon him, — that even mentally he has not pronounced his release, — and in leaving the penalty to take its course he will feel that he is doing him no injustice. If repentance had rendered the man innocent, it would be a crime for the governor to let the penalty stand; but, though, out of sympathy, he may commute the sentence, he will feel that he is doing right in not releasing the man. Pardon would save the prisoner's life and restore him to citizenship, ^. €,, to his former relations; but let it be noted that the governor's change of feeling toward him does neither of these things, and let it be still further noted that his proceeding will be considered by all mankind as just.* The change of feeling which nat- urally follows the know^ledge of the offender's repent- ance does have some effect on the governor's bearing toward him, but it does not change his relations nor remove the penalty. These things hinge on the act of will which constitutes the mind's final disposal of the case, and the conscience of the race has pro- nounced that it should be so. Let us pass now to inquire how far the teachings of *Kven in cases where a civil governor feels that he would be justified in pardoning an offender, it is not the change of feeling toward him, but the act of will releasing him, that decides his destiny. 10 145 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM the New Testament regarding remission of sins cor- respond with the principles just set forth. Judging the Divine Being by our own mental con- stitution, we must suppose that his state of feeling toward the sinner is changed when the sinner repents. Is this change of feeling immediately followed by an act of the will pardoning the sinner and admitting him into the full relation of sonship? We are able to say positively that it is not. When the apostles went forth to preach the gospel, they proclaimed two con- ditions of divine acceptance — ''repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Here we have a condition superadded to repentance, and its effect was to shut out many persons. Wherever the apostles went they were wont to offer the prom- ises of the gospel, first to the Jewish people, and then to the Gentile, in every city. If repentance had been the only condition of remission of sins, they should have preached repentance to these Jewish brethren, seeking to lead them to a more faithful service of the God they professed to worship, and telling them that on this condition they should receive remission of sins ; and then they should have tried to persuade as many as possible to believe in Christ, but should never have rejected them for not doing so. The fact is, they never pursued this course — never made remission of sins hinge on mere repentance, but on the superadded condition of believing what they said regarding Christ, and complete commitment to him. It cannot be said that there could be no true repentance which did not involve faith in Christ, for there were quite other difficulties to this belief than obliquity of heart. Thomas was not a bad man, but he refused to believe without ocular demonstration. 146 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REMISSION There is reason to believe that the powerful preach- ing of the apostles might have moved many of the Jewish people to repentance toward God who were not ready to believe their report regarding Jesus; and if this would have secured to them divine pardon and acceptance, they should have done so, and left the matter of faith in Christ to the fortunes of later teaching. Instead of this, they made this added requirement the decisive determinant of their accep- tance or rejection. How can we explain this striking fact? To suppose that there was no good reason, and that God interposed an unnecessary condition to his acceptance of the sinner, were to impeach his goodness. Do the Scriptures make known any suffi- cient reason for this proceeding? Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans (v. 15 .sg.) describes the case of a man who has come to hate sin and is earnestly striving to overcome it, — the very condition which repentance is designed to bring about, — but finds it impossible to do so alone. He finds that when he would do good evil is present with him; so that what he hates that he does, and what he would do he cannot. Then, comparing sin to a co^-pse which is chained to him, he cries out in despair, *'0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?" The answer is, *'I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The situation is, that a man who sincerely repents and undertakes to live a righteous life in his own strength is really not saved, but lost. With the man who has repented it is no longer perversity, but weakness; but the re- sult is not less certain. He does not want to do wrong, but cannot help it. Christ teaches the same truth under another figure 147 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM when he represents himself as a ''vine" in which his disciples are the "branches." "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for apart from me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is with- ered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" (Jn. xv. 5, 6). This appears strongly also in the very purpose and nature of Chris- tianity itself. It is pre-eminently, not a government, but a system of salvation. The people of Israel lived under a divine government before Christ came ; and as a system of government the New Testament writers find no fault with the Jewish law. Paul's argument in Romans was not that the Jewish law was defective as a system of government, but that no legal system could meet the requirements of the case. The law was not lacking in elaborate provisions for pardon; and during its administration the nation was visited frequently by men of mighty moral earnestness, who with commanding eloquence called the people to repentance, the last of these being John the Baptist, who moved the nation as by storm. What better than this could be desired? Nothing, if righteous government, together with ample provision for pro- ducing repentance, were sufficient. Yet it is all swept away and replaced by what is far less a government than a system of salvation. This is because repen- tance is not sufficient. The man. who undertakes to live a righteous life cannot do it; and the penitent is still lost unless he takes a strong hand that can help him. Hence faith, which binds the man to Christ the Savior, is necessary. And God does not pardon the sinner on his mere repentance, because his release at this point could not be of the slightest benefit to him 148 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REMISSION — nay, it would do him great harm by leading him to think that all is well when he is still lost.* Love will not do this; and it is love that pardons. If God be in earnest about the sinner's salvation, he will not, by a misplaced pardon, mislead him to his ruin. He therefore requires that the sinner shall not only repent, but embrace Christianity, which is God's hand reached down to save him. But Christianity is not a single force; it embraces two mighty saving forces — Christ, and his earthly body, the church. Each has its own necessary use in making righteousness practicable. The author of Ecce Homo profoundly says that "without a society, and an authority of some kind, morality remains speculative and useless, "f If this is true, it needs no argument to show how vast the importance of church membership is in making a righteous life practicable. Observation conducts to the same con- clusion. We need but look about us to see that every man is saved or ruined by society. To stand apart from all connection with Christ's spiritual body on earth and live wholly in the society of the world is to invite spiritual ruin. It is the church that finds man in his sin, breaks his stony heart with her pleading voice, and brings him a penitent to the feet of Christ; and it is she that must still attend him, or he is almost sure to be lost. If Christ be one of the mighty arms which save men, and the church the other, *E)ven Judaism was not without its helping influence to live a righteous life, which, in addition to his repentance, the Jew was required to make use of as a condition of the divine favor; but, as these were far inferior to those of Christianity, they gave place to the new. \Ecce Homo, Preface Supplementary, p. ix. His argument on this point is conclusive. 149 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM why count him saved when he has taken one of these and not the other? If God refuses to pardon men on their mere repentance, and until they shall make their salvation practicable by laying hold on his saving forces, why pardon them when they have but half done this? The truth is, union with Christ and union with the church rest on precisely the same rational basis. They are both practical conditions of salvation. Neither one is a change of heart, which takes place in repentance and precedes them both. But union with the church cannot take place by a mere act of the mind. It can be consummated only by some external act; and that act is, by divine appointment. Christian baptism. Thus baptism be- comes a condition of pardon because it is the act by which we form a connection with one, yea, both, of the two great saving forces of Christianity. Baptism for the remission of sins and justification by faith in Christ rest on the same rational basis. Any course of argument which will exclude the one will undermine the other. A man, after he has repented, must lay hold on Christ before he will be pardoned, because he needs this strong helping power to make his repentance effectual; and he must lay hold on the church for the same reason. Repentance is the ethical condition of salvation; connection with Christ and his church are practical conditions. In repentance a change of feeling and purpose with regard to righteousness takes place; in faith and baptism connection is made with the strong forces that render righteousness attainable.* If the con- *When it is said that entering into union with Christ is a practi- cal, not a moral, condition of remission, it is not meant that sur- render to and laying hold on Christ is not a moral and spiritual 150 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REMISSION dition of pardon must be solely ethical, it will exclude baptism, but with it faith in Christ must also go. If faith in Christ may be admitted among the conditions of pardon, for a similar reason baptism may also be admitted. In cases where men are already believers in the truth of Christianity before they repent, repentance and faith in Christ are brought so close together that we are wont to regard them as practically one act. This tends to confuse in our minds the real bearings of the case; for in the apostolic age "repentance toward God and faith to- ward our Lord Jesus Christ" were often separated, and they are now whenever we are preaching to pious Jews, or to skeptics who are earnestly seeking to do right without being satisfied of the truth of the gospel. In all such cases we exact faith in Christ as a condi- tion of remission of sins. That is, we exact more than the ethical condition, which is repentance, or a right- seeking state of the heart. As distinguished from repentance, faith in Christ is a practical condition of salvation and stands on a level with baptism as a con- nective to saving forces. If baptism were a mere cere- mony or external act it, of course, could have no right- ful place as a condition of pardon; but if it be what we have shown it to be, and what it evidently was in the apostolic age, there is no more reason for its act, but that it is an ad, not a change of mental state. The moral change takes place in repentance and then may be followed by any number of moral acts. The spiritual act of the soul in enter- ing into union with Christ is profoundly moral, but its ethical elements had their origin in repentance. The change that takes place in repentance is ethical; the change that takes place in entering into union with Christ is practical. It is one which renders the fulfillment of the purpose of repentance possible. It putii the soul in connection with a fountain of strength. It is a vital change of relation. 151 3IOEAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM exclusion from the conditions of pardon than there is for the exclusion of faith in Christ. If the conditions of remission embrace both ethical and practical steps, it remains to inquire what is the status of the person who has taken the ethical step, but has not yet taken the practical. We have a complete answer to this question in the case of Cor- nelius. He was earnestly striving to do his duty to both God and man. His moral state was such as repentance is designed to produce; and in the com- mencement of this course there must have been the essential elements of repentance.* God's attitude toward him was also what we should expect. There is no mark of displeasure, but, on the contrary, approval; and his prayers and alms rise as a memo- rial before God. But, nothwithstanding these things, the narrative clearly informs us that he was not saved; for he was told to send for Peter who should tell him words whereby he and his house should be saved (Acts xi. 13, 14). We also discover that he had not received the remission of sins, for Peter tells him that "through his [Christ's] name every one that be- lieveth on him shall receive remission of sins" — a step which Cornelius had not yet taken. Thus it appears that while the divine feeling toward this man had changed, and the divine behavior in certain respects had also changed, he was not yet pardoned or saved. *The fact that the conversion of the Gentiles to Christ is spoken of as a "repentance unto life" (Acts xi. 18) does not im- ply that there had been no previous repentance. Cornelius had repented "toward God," and what remained in his becoming a Christian is loosely spoken of as a repentance unto life — unto the life that Christ offers in his kingdom. The repentance toward God had been both moral and loyal; this was devotement to Christ with all that it involves. 152 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REMISSION This case presents insurmountable difficulties if we are to make remission of sins dependent only on ethical conditions, but, if it depends not only on a man's change of attitude toward righteousness and toward God, but also on his laying hold on the strong forces which God has ordained for his rescue from sin, all difficulties vanish and every feature of the case becomes what we should expect it to be. But there is one further point that is specially worthy of our attention. As already noted, Corne- lius has reached that state where God has ceased to be displeased with him and views him with approval, but he has not been "saved" and has not received the "remission of sins." We discover, therefore, that that change of feeling in the divine Mind which fol- lows the sinner's repentance is not ivhat the Scriptures mean by ^ ^remission of sins' ^ ; hut lohat they do mean by it is that release and acceptance* which God grants to the man who has not only repented, but put himself into actual connection with the saving forces of Chris- tianity. Now, if this is so — if such is the meaning of remission — and if baptism is the step by which we enter into connection with one t of the mightiest of these forces (the church), there remains no longer any shadow of reason why baptism should not be a condi- tion of remission of sins. From much that is popularly * With this are connected adoption to sonship (Gal. iii. 26, 27 and iv. 5, 6), union with Christ (Rom. vi. 5), the reception of the Holy Spirit (Acts ii. 38), and admission into the church (1. Cor. xii. 13). 1 1 say 07ie of these forces, because we are here considering what is philosophically necessary. It is impossible to unite with the church without some act of profession; it would be possible to unite with Christ, if he had so ordained, by a simply spiritual act. In reality, we enter into union with Christ and with the church by the same act, baptism. 153 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM said on the subject it seems evident that, when speak- ing of remission of sins, many are thinking of the change of feeling in the divine Mind toward the sin- ner; but this cannot fitly be called either pardon or remission. The act of will which in view of all the circumstances, including the sinner's own welfare, pronounces his release is the real pardoning act; and it is just this that the Scriptures, with utmost fitness, call remission. People may say what they choose re- garding remission, — meaning by it God's change of feeling toward the sinner, — but when they attempt to foist this meaning into the Scriptures and then ex- plain away some of their clearest statements to reconcile them with this assumed definition, they commit a grave error. The very fact that God's ap- proving attitude toward Cornelius seems inconsistent with the fact that his sins had not been remitted, should give us pause. Remission of sins does not mean remission of divine anger, and baptism, on the other hand, is not a mere outward act. When remission of sins is understood to mean love's release of the sinner at that point where it is best that it be done, and bap- tism the high and holy spiritual step of entering i^ito union with Christ and his churchy this controversy will cease forever. God is not angry with the penitent sinner, but he is lost until he lays hold on the saving forces, and should not be counted saved until he does so. Remission of sins depends not simply on an ethical condition, but also on practical conditions; hence not only repentance, but union with Christ and his church are necessary. That God should require some practical condition beyond mere repentance in order to remission of sins is not an exceptional procedure confined to conversion 154 THE PSYCHOLOGr OF REMISSION . . . n alone, but is true of the entire Christian life. Not repentance alone, but repentance with confession of "^^^ our sins to God, is made the condition of our later ' forgiveness. John says, *'If we confess our sins, he ^/ is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1. Jn. i. 9). We are also taught in the Lord's Prayer to pray for forgiveness. Neither confession nor prayer is neces- sary to inform God of the state of our hearts; yet forgiveness waits on their performance. Thus, for- giveness in the Christian life depends not alone on the ethical condition of repentance, but also on a subsequent practical condition. If God granted all his blessings imsnediately, in accordance with the state of the heart, or on that simple condition, it would render all petitionary prayer farcical, since whatever was prayed for would already have been granted, or assured. If you see your child at table f^bout to ask for some article of food, and you antici- pate his utterance by helping him to it, he will not ask for it. The principle which would rule out bap- tism as a condition of remission of sins — making re- mission depend alone on the state of the heart — would sweep petitionary prayer out of existence. And let it be further observed that the Christian's prayer for forgiveness is a profession of his sinfulness, ^t'"*^ and that the baptism of the convert is a prayer for ^ forgiveness. "It is," says Prof. Stevens, "the re- quest (directed) towards God for a good conscience." \ (1. Pet. iii. 21.)* Baptism is the prayer of the soul for a clear record, for absolution. Forgiveness, in the Christian life, is made dependent on prayer lohicJi embraces confession, and with the convert on profes- * Theology of the New Testauient, p. 310. 155 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM sion which embraces prayer. It is prayer united with profession or confession in both cases. Baptism as a condition of the remission of sins is in perfect accord with the law of forgiveness in the Christian life. In one case as in the other, there must be an act super- added to the state of the heart. The extreme ethicalism of our time, which refuses to recognize any practical conditions of remission, will not stop at the casting out of baptism, but will tend to sAveep away all positive religion. And this tendency is already at work to no small extent. 156 BOOK II. THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH AND ITS RELATION TO BAPTISM PART L THE PHILOSOPHICAL EXAMINATION CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Justification ])y faith is the great doctrine of Protestantism. The spiritualitj', the moral uplift, and the strong individaali.sin of Protestantism, are mainly due to the influence of this great doctrine. Exphiin it as one may, its atmosphere is a soul-tonic, and there is in it so much of moral health as to point to a deeper meaning than that of a mere arbitrary method of reaching reconciliation with God. Salvation by faith is also one of the cardinal doc- trines of primitive Christianity. Salvation by grace and salvation by faith rise like twin mountains in the area of Christian teaching. They are two mighty suns ruling in the heavens of divine revelation, about which circle all other truths. Grace (the divine giv- ing) and faith (the human taking) form the highest generalization of Christianity. No system can repre- sent the gospel fairly which is not true to the over- shadowing prominence of these doctrines. §/. Some Preliminary Considerations. It is the purpose of the present investigation to determine the relation of Baptism to justification by faith. In order to do this, it will be necessary first to inquire what is meant by the term faitJi. In approaching this question, however, it is important 159 MORAL AND SPIPaTUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM that we guard against certain assumptions which would vitiate our whole examination: 1 . It will not do for us, in advance, to fix upon a cer- tain definition of the word faith and its corresponding term believe, and seek to apply this to all cases where these words occur in the New Testament. This would simply be to read our own preconceptions into the Scriptures, and could have no value beyond that of exhibiting our ingenuity. 2. Having determined the meaning of the word faith (or believe) in any passage of Scripture, we must not assume that it has exactly that meaning in all other places where it is found. This would, no doubt, be a very convenient method of interpretation, but it would ignore one of the fundamental facts of language, and be as misleading as convenient. To commit this blunder at the outset would be to shut the door in advance against all reliable results. Such an assumption would fatally disqualify us for any trustworthy investigation. The fact of language to which I refer is well set forth by Sir William Hamilton in his Lectures on Logic. Speaking of the ambiguity of language as a source of error in reasoning, he says : *'As this is the principal source of error originating in language, it will be proper to be a little more explicit. And here it is expedient to take into account two circumstances, which mutually affect each other. The first is, that as the vocabulary of every language is necessarily finite, it is necessarily disproportioned to the multiplicity, not to say infinity, of thought; and the second, that the complement of words in any given language has been always filled up with terms significant of objects and relations of the external 160 INTRODUCTORY world, before the want was experienced of words to express the objects and relations of the internal. *^From the first of these circumstances, considered exclusively and by itself, it is manifest that one of two alternatives must take place. Either the words of a language must each designate only a single notion, — a single fasciculus of thought, — the multitude of notions not designated being allowed to perish, never obtaining more than a momentary existence in the mind of the individual; or the words of a lan- guage must each be employed to denote a plurality of concepts. In the former case, a small amount of thought would be expressed, but that precisely and without ambiguity; in the latter, a large amount of thought would be expressed, but that vaguely and equivocally. Of these alternatives (each of which has thus its advantages and disadvantages) the latter is the one which has universally been preferred; and accordingly, all languages by the same word express a multitude of thoughts, more or less differing from each other. Now, what is the consequence of this? It is plain that if a word has more than a single meaning attached to it, when it is employed it cannot of itself directly and peremptorily suggest any definite thought; — all that it can do is vaguely and hypotheti- cally to suggest a variety of different notions; and we are obliged from a consideration of the context, — of the tenor, — of the analogy, of the discourse, to surmise, with greater or less assurance, with greater or less precision, what particular bundle of characters it was intended to convey."* In dealing with words, therefore, we do not have to do with certain fixed quantities whose values never ^Lectures on Logic, p. 436, sg. 11 161 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM vary, but with signs whose meanings shift with the ever-changing positions, or connections, in which they stand. It has been asserted that the w^ord good has no less than forty different meanings^ or shades of meaning. Prof. Whitney says that "it is the cus- tomary office of a w^ord to cover not a point, but a territory that is irregular, heterogeneous, and vari- able"; and again: "If we w^ere to count in our words only those degrees of difference of meaning for which in other cases separate provision of expression is made, the 100,000 English words would doubtless be found equivalent to a million or two."* Under such circumstances, both the expresiJon of thought and the interpretation of such expression would at first seem to be a matter so tedious and uncertain as to render it well-nigh impracticable; but Sir William Hamilton further says: "In this procedure what is chiefly w^onderful, is the rapidity with which the mind compares the word with its correlations, and in general, without the slightest effort, decides which among its various meanings is the one which it is here intended to convey. But how marvelous soever be the ease and velocity of this process of selection, it cannot always be performed with equal certainty. Words are often employed with a plurality of meanings; several of which may quad- rate, or be supposed to quadrate, with the general tenor of the discourse. Error is thus possible; and it is also probable, if we have any prepossession in favor of one interpretation rather than of another. So copious a source of error is the ambiguity of language, that a very large proportion of human controversy *Life and Growth of Language, by Wm. D. Whitney, p. 111. 162 INTRODi:CTORY has been concerning the sense in which certain terras should be understood; and many disputes have even been fiercely waged, in consequence of the disputants being unaware that they agreed in opinion, and only differed in the meaning they attached to the words in which that opinion was expressed." If mistakes in gathering the meaning of words from their correlations prove so fertile a source of error, what must be said of any method of interpretation which does not even attempt to do this — which ignores the whole process and fails to apply the principles by which, in common speech, the mean- ings of words are determined? The word faith has several meanings, so has also the word believe; and the same is true of the original Greek words of which these are translations. It is antecedent!}' probable that we shall find these words used in many, if not all, of their various senses in the Scriptures; and the exact meaning of either of them, in any particular passage, must be determined by its correlations, or the conditions under which the act takes place. To assume the contrary would be to render any investigation of this subject worthless. 3. The application of the linguistic principles by which the various meanings of words are determined may show that the word faith and its corresponding term believe are sometimes, or prevailingly, used in a sense, or senses, in the New Testament, wdiich they do not bear in ordinary literature. To assume this to be so, would be wholly unwarrantable; yet, no more so than to assume the contrary. We may say in advance that there, is no antecedent improbability against it. Every new thing and every new concep- .tion must have a name. In the growth of modern 1C3 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM science we draw extensivel}" for terms from the two great classical languages, Greek and Latin. But the most common course, in the history of ideas, has been to express new conceptions by a modification or ex- tension of meaning of terms already in current use; and such has been the method of the inspired writers. Christianity rose upon the world like a new creation, and it has glorified not a few of the words which represent its cardinal thoughts. The words life, deaths cross, Christ, repentance,* and a number of others, have taken on new meanings in Scripture usage; and it is not improbable that so important a word as faith, in the Christian system, will also be found to have been subject to the same influence. But we must assume nothing on this point. Whether or not faith is ever used in the Scriptures in any special sense, and, if so, what that sense is, must be determined by the application of linguistic laws. §^. 0}ie of the Uses of the Word ''Believe:" With these preliminary considerations we are now prepared to enter upon the question of the meaning, or meanings, of the word faith. It is not my present purpose to do this exhaustively, but only to note such uses of the word as bear upon the question under consideration. Let us, then, proceed to notice one of its meanings. When the apostles went forth preaching the gospel to the world, their first task was to establish the * "In classical usage, metanoeoo never denotes a change ot moral bearing, or of the manner of life in general, but always refers to some particular points of behavior." — Cremer's Biblico Theological Lexicon., sub voce. That is, the word repentance in classical usage has no profound moral meaning. What a vast change passes over it in its in- troduction into Christian usage! 164 INTRODUCTORY divinity and Messiahship of Jesus. This they did by presenting evidence addressed to the understanding. Those who were convinced by this evidence were said to have believed this tinith. The Samaritans (Acts viii. 12) are said to have ''believed. Philip preachin;^ good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ." I see nothing to indicatL* that the word "believed" here means anything more than the crediting of Philip's preaching as true. We have here a conviction of the understanding regard- ing certain truths. The person believed is Philip, and the thing believed is his preaching. This, then, — one of the most common uses of the word believe in all literature, — is at least one of its uses in the New Testament. There would be ho impropriety in speak- of this believing as beliefs or faith. The word faith is the translation of simply the nounal form of the word translated believe. The two words belief arid faith are represented by only one word in the Greek. Had the Greek possessed two words corresponding respectively to our words faith and belief they would probably have been used distinctively; but as it is, one word covers the whole ground, and that word is simply the nounal form of the word rendered believe. I believe that that act of believing, of which we are now speaking, is more accurately designated by the word belief than by the word faith, and that we shall avoid unnecessary ambiguity by so designating it. The English language is richer at this point than the Greek, and we may as well possess ourselves of the advantage. What, then, let us proceed to inquire, is the nature of this belief? Let it be said in the first place that it possesses no proper moral element. It is a matter of the under- 165 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM standing. The belief that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God," reached by. simply weighing the evidence presented, may be no more a moral act than reaching the conclusion, through a similar pro- cess, that Julius Ccesar was assassinated. True, a man may apply himself to this investigation wnth high and moral motives, and these may have some- thing to do in determining the conclusion he shall reach, but not necessarily or always so. The object in listening to the gospel may have, and in a large proportion of cases does have, no higher motive than curiosity. This great truth may even take pos- session of the understanding, while the mind is en- gaged only in resistance to its acceptance. In our day multitudes believe it from their childhood, just as they hold other inherited beliefs, and w^ith as little moral purpose; while, at the same time, they may be living godless or even wicked lives. To save a man on such a faith would be to save him entirely regard- less of moral character. This conviction of the understanding may be at- tended by various emotions. The affections may be touched, or the truth may cause alarm, and roiise the conscience to compunction, as it did on the day of Pentecost. In this we have something of a moral quickening. But all this may take place without ever leading to repentance. The love of the sinful life may be so strong as to resist these impulses, and the belief may prove abortive. When it is successful, its value lies in its causative power — its power to work repentance. Apart from this, it becomes a savor of death, by leaving the heart more obdurate than before. Such a belief, which may leave a man still in a state im INTRODUCTORY of rebellion against God, is not the faith that is said to be "counted for righteousness." To count this for righteousness would be to count a man righteous without repentance, and while still clinging to his sin. If it be claimed that this belief is not counted for righteousness until it issues in repentance and sub- mission to God — in other words, that it is not faith that is so counted, but faith plus repentance and sub- mission, steps far more vital than the belief itself, — I reply that the faith that was counted to Abraham for righteousness was so counted without waiting for it to be followed by repentance, and that it is not represented as being followed by repentance at all in his case. It was faith^ not faith plus repentance, that was counted to Abraham for righteousness. Abraham's faith was very different from the belief we are now considering, and contained within itself all the spiritual elements necessary to 'acceptance with God. If we shall compare the sinner's state of mind at this point with that of Abraham when his faith was counted for righteousness, we shall discover a vast difference. They belong to different epochs in human experience. Abraham was not then consider= ing the question whether he should repent and sub- mit to God, and his faith at that time had a very different content from the belief which we are now considering, as we shall soon see. If the motives brought to bear upon the heart through this conviction of the understanding prove powerful enough to break the attachment to sin, we shall have r^epentance^ which consists in a resolution springing from sorrow for sin, to abandon the sinful life and enter upon the service of God. This change is a vastly important one and is, moreover, of a moral 167 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM character; but the penitent has not yet reached that faith which is said to be counted for righteousness. What, then, is this faith? This we are now prepared to consider. 168 CHAPTER II. THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. The Apostle Paul was the first to discuss the ques- tion of the relation of faith to salvation; and, in his great argument on justification, we shall find much information regarding the nature of that faith which forms the condition of the divine acceptance. In this argument, which will be found chiefly in the Roman and Galatian Epistles, he undertakes to prove that men are justified by faith, rather than by the legal observance of the Jewish law, and adduces the fact that Abraham, the ancestral head of the Jew- ish race, to whom the promises were made which con- stituted the very hope- of Israel, was justified by faith, and not by the law, which came hundreds of years later. The demonstration, therefore, is complete that faith, not the works of the law, constitutes the true condition of justification. But let it be observed that this conclusion depends wholly on the fact that Abra- ham was justified by faith. In view of this, the argu- ment is worthless regarding any other kind of faith than that by which Abraham was justified. Take any essential element out of that faith, and the whole argument will fall to the ground. It is of tliis faith, and nothing less, that it is said that *'it was counted for righteousness." What, then, was the nature of this faith? § 1. Abraham' s Faith ivas Trust. Abraham was called of God to leave his country and kindred, and go out into a strange land, which — ^fter his arrival there — -God promised to give to his 169 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM seed for an inheritance. He had also promised him a numerous posterity, and declared that he would make him a great nation, and that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed. Abraham obeyed, going to the land, and wandering as a stranger there. Time passed, and he had no natural heir, and, by the laws of nature, could expect none. His faith in God was not shaken, but he seems no longer to have expected the promise to be fulfilled in his own person; and this was a source of great sorrow to him. In this situation, God appeared to him, and an- nounced a literal fulfillment of his promise, and gave him many definite particulars regarding it. In face of all the seeming impossibilities involved, we are told that Abraham "believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness" (Gen. xv. 6). What does this language mean? The original word translated "believed," in this passage, is given by one of the authors in Lange's Commentary as "embracing and steadfastly resting upon"; and another says: "The word 'believed' is here exact, or precise; he cleaves to the Lord (pre- cisely: he stays, supports, rests himself upon the Lord)." This is clearly a description of trufit. Thayer's N. T. Lexicon defines the Greek word trans- lated "believed," in all the New Testament references to Abraham's faith, as "^o trust.''* Paul himself speaks of it as hope (Rom. iv. 18), which never is a mere matter of the understanding. But we are not *In the Supplement to Cremer's Biblico-Tlieological Lexicon of New Testament Greek the author says regarding faith that "with Paul the element of unreserved trust occupies the first place, with the signification 'unreservedly, without demur of word or act, to give oneself up to the God of our salvation'." ^ ^ 170 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH dependent on verbal criticism alone, nor even on Paul's description, for determining the character of Abraham's faith. It included the laying hold on a promise which embraced tiie great desire of his life. Thus it was a reliance of the heart on God for the be- stowment of a great blessing; it was a strong, un- wavering trust. Abraham's faith was a personal- trust — trust, in a matter deeply concerning his own personal interests. The faith, then, that was counted to Abraham for righteousness was per so7ial tricst ; and Paul argues that such a trust in God revealed in Christ will be counted for righteousness in every age. The act of counting this faith for righteousness is called justification. This justification may be said to be a forensic act. It is not minahing righteous (it was not so with Abraham), but a pronouncing righteous. In courts of law the act of acquittal, or pronouncing not guilty, takes place simply on the ascertainment of the fact of the innocence of the accused. But as all men have sinned, God can pronounce no such justifi- cation on them. If, in view of any condition he ac- quits them, it must be as an act of favor, or grace; and his pronouncing them just, or free from con- demnation, must involve pardon, to which it is prac- tically equivalent.* *It is not claimed that the words justification and pardon have precisely the same meaning. The one is the act of a Judge; the other, that of a vSovereign. The one implies that the law is sat- isfied; the other, that it is relaxed. The man who is justified is entitled to all the privileges of a righteous man. These terms, however, are used to designate the same transaction viewed from different standpoints, and may be taken as practically equiva- lent. In Rom. iv. 7, 8, Paul nsQsforsciveness and the non-imputa- tion of sin as equivalent to Jusfificationy while faith is, in Rom. iv. 5, the condition oi justification, and in Acts x. 43, of remis- sion of sins. 171 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM Trusty the word used to designate the condition on which pardon is granted, does not, in its ordinary meaning, represent a moral, or even a loyal, act. The merchant's trust of a customer until he is able to pay, is simply a business affair. It involves no loyalty to any one; and, so far from its being moral, the mer- chant may be a very immoral man. If this be all there is in justification by faith, it is certainly very disappointing to our moral instincts, and ill accords with our ideas of God as a righteous Being. Various expedients have been resorted to to relieve this difficulty. It has been held that justi- fication is not a pronouncing just, but a making just; but the language will not bear this construction. It has been held that faith is but one of the conditions of justification, and that through subsequent repent- ance and obedience it is rendered fit to be counted for righteousness; but Paul speaks only of this one con- dition throughout the argument, and rests his conclu- sion on a case in the life of Abraham in which faith was not followed by repentance, and in which the counting for righteousness did not wait for any other condition.* Had he been arguing that it is faith plus some sub- sequent act that is counted for righteousness, the case of the offering of Isaac would have been far more to the point; and, as it occurred hundreds of 3^ears be- fore the giving of the Jewish law, it would have served equally well in excluding that law as a ground of justi- fication. Here Abraham's faith passed into an act of obedience, and received the warmest divine approval, *Paul founds his argument on that incident in the life of Abra- ham recorded in the 15th chap, of Genesis, and not on that re- lating to his call (Gen. xii.), nor that relating to the offering of Isaac (Gen. xxii.). 172 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH and was, as James says, "counted for righteousness." Yet Paul does not choose this case, but, on the con- trary, selects one in which the counting for righteous- ness was in view of a mental act of trust. If faith must be followed by other conditions, such as repent- ance and submission, Paul certainly was very infelicit- ous both in the wording of his argument and in the selection of his typical example. Another method of relieving the difficulty in ques- tion is that of giving to faith a high moral and spirit- ual content; but, if there be no other reason for this than to escape a difficulty, we shall hardly be war- ranted in doing so. § 2. The Nature of the Faith that is Reckoned for Righteousness. Let us now proceed to examine the trust which stands at the threshold of the Christian life on its own merits, without resort to special pleading, and regard- less of any difficulties which may be involved. This faith is a fact in human experience. What is its nature? Let it be said, in the first place, that it is not a mere spontaneous trust, but rather a trust involving an act of the loill. It is necessarily so, from the very fact that it is made a condition of justification. A man cannot trust in Christ as his Savior until he fulfills the condi- tion that makes Christ his Savior. Thus, the very fact of making trust a condition seems at first thought to in- volve an impossibility. Christ is not a man's Savior till he trusts Him as such, and he cannot trust Him as such until he becomes his savior. How, then, can such a trust ever come into existence? How can any- thing come into existence, whose existence is the an- tecedent condition of that very existence? There is 173 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM no escape from this difficulty unless trust shall take into itself an element of will. This will best appear from two illustrations: A father tells his child that at Christmas time he will make him a beautiful present. No condition is expressed. There is, therefore, nothing for the child to decide — nothing before its will. It knows of its father's truthfulness, love, and ability to perform what he has promised; and it involuntarily — spon- taneously— trusts him for it, looking forward to the fulfillment with glad expectancy. Its trust is sponta- neous. But let us suppose another case: A man is very ill and has been given up, by his physician, to die. A few hours after this announcement, a friena enters the sick room, accompanied by a distinguished specialist, advances to the bedside, and says: "I could not see you die without summoning this doctor to see you. Please let him examine your case; and then, if you do not wish to employ him, no harm will be done." The physician approaches, and, after making a careful examination, says: "My friend, you are a very sick man, but if you will intrust your case to me, lean save your life." There is instantly a question before the mind of the sick man for decision. He is not now trusting the physician to save his life. If he decides not to accept his services, he will never so trust him. When, by an act of will, he accepts him, he immediately begins to trust him — to rely upon him for such service. He cannot do so without this inter- vening act of the will. Without this act of accept- ance, this specialist will never be his physician, and he can trust him for no such service. No man can trust in Christ as his Savior until Chrisi 174 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH becomes his Savior, and he does not become his Savior until the sinner accepts him as such. It is proper, however, hereto remark that trust may pass through two stages — the stage of anticipation, and the stage of appropriation. One may rely on Christ's becoming his Savior, and then, after he has become so, he may rely upon him as his Savior. Neither of these forms of trust can come into exist- ence without an act of the will. No one can rely on Christ's becoming his Savior until he decides to accept him as such, and no one can rely on Christ as his Savior before he does so accept him. That it is the latter — the completed form of trust — which is counted for righteousness, I shall assume for the present, reserving the proof till a later date. But lot us here observe that we have discovered one very important fact regarding this faith, namely, that there can be no trust in Christ which does not begin in an act of the vvill accepting him. Spontaneous trust is made impossible by the very conditiouality of justification. It will be of great importance to keep this before the mind, since the unconscious gliding from one conception to the other has been a cause of much confusion, and really lies at the foundation of many false ideas regarding faith. The trust that is counted for righteousness begins, and must begin, in an act of the loill. It has no existence prior to an act of the will accepting Christ. But while we have learned this much regarding this faith, we have yet discovered nothing which shows it to be either a moral or a loyal act. A gentleman offers to hand a lady from a carriage ; she accepts his service and trusts herself to him, relying on his strength, ability, and intention to perform the service 175 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM properly. Here we have trust beginning in acceptance, but the lady's act possesses no moral quality; nor does it involve any loyalty to the gentleman. If the accepting trust in Christ be nothing higher than this, the disappointment of our moral nature must remain, and justification by faith must seem little less than trifling with a grave and serious subject. Is the trust, then, that is "counted for righteous- ness" anything higher than the ordinary trust of busi- ness and social life, which possesses no moral, loyal, or spiritual element? It is. How do we know this? Before answering, let us say that most minds in- stinctively feel that it is so. They recognize it at a glance. They simply see more in the word than that. They reach the conclusion through a lightning-like flash of intelligence, which they may not be able» fully to explain. They are conscious of something in the situation, or in the subject — vaguely seen — that sheds a new glory of meaning on the word. The mind is correct in this intuition; and it is only necessary, for purposes of argument, to draw out this shadowy per- ception into clear apprehension, and follow the pro- cess of word-glorification in its successive stages. We have here simply to do with a fundamental law of language, and in a case that is paralleled by thou- sands of similar ones in every tongue. Definitely stated, it is this: When the action of a verb terminates on an object, or takes place under conditions, whose nature is such as to make part of the meaniiig of the verb inapplicable, the verb loses such part of its meaning in that case; and, when the action of a verb terminates on an object, or takes place under conditivus, whose nature requires a modification or increase or the ordi- nary meaning of the verb, it undergoes such modifica- 176 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH Hon or takes on such additional meaning. Mutatis mutandis, the law is applicable also to other parts of speech; and the correctness of the principle maybe verified by referring to any work on the structure and growth of language. For our present purpose, a few illustrations will serve best. To love a sweetheart and to love a friend, are not acts of precisely the same character. The love of David and Jonathan was not the love of the sexes, and could by no possibility be such, simply because they were both men — because of the nature of the object toward which the feeling was directed. If, now, we apply love to another object — to an enemy — the change of meaning which the word undergoes amounts almost to a revolution. A large part of the meaning of love is instantly stricken out. The complacency, present in most of its other forms, and the affinity so prominent in friendship, are wholly eliminated, while another element of love rises into sublime prominence — an element which, in some of its other forms, is almost wholly absent. So vast is the difference between the meaning of the word in this case, and that which it possesses in most other cases, that many who can love passionately a member of the other sex, or a friend, are wholly incapable of loving an enemy.* This change of meaning all re- sults from the character of the object toward which the feeling is directed. * So true is this, that some assert that it is impossible to love an enemy; that the best that can be done is to stifle resentment and treat the enemy as if we loved him. But this is neither Scriptural teaching nor good psychology. A.bsalom was David's enemy, yet David loved him with a yearning and passionate affection What is true of parental love can be shown to be true of at least one other kind of love — the Christian. 12 177 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM Let love terminate on still another object — God — and we shall have still a different meaning of the word. Here the change consists, not so much in the elimination of certain of its ordinary meanings, as in the addition of new ones. The word now em- braces within its import both gratitude and reverence. Neither of these meanings belongs to the other three forms of love to which we have referred, and yet, when love is directed toward God, these qualities im- mediately spring into it — the reverence because of his character, and the gratitude because of his benefac- tions. Let us take another example, the verb to call on. To call on a waiter is to summon him to service; to call on an acquaintance is to make a short visit; to call on God is to pray, or invoke his blessing. So of the word /ear. To fear an enemy or a*wild beast, is to be afraid of him; to fear God, is to reverence him. Thus words are like chameleons, changing their hue with the object on which they rest, and yet retaining an identity in change. This list need not be extended. Such examples may be found on almost every page of any dictionary. We have in these cases an illustration of one of the fundamental laws of language. To strike this princi- ple of modification out of language would be well- nigh to strike the human race dumb. The mind usually reaches these new or modified meanings by a simple glance of intelligence, without reasoning them out; but should any one be disposed to deny that in loving a sweetheart the feeling is dif- ferent from that exercised in loving an enemy or in loving God, we should be compelled to show, by care- ful examination of the conditions under which the 178 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH act takes place, that the feelings in these different cases can not possibly be the same. This is what we must now do with respect to trust. Our task is to show that the object on which it ter- minates, or the conditions under which it takes place in conversion, make it impossible that it have simpl}' the lower meaning of business life. We have, more- over, in these conditions, the means of showing not only what it cannot be, but exactly what it is, and of vindicating the flash of intuitive perception which sees in it a high and holy meaning. Let us begin with the lowest meaning of the word, that we may build our definition up from the founda- tion. Suppose we tell a man that if he will only accept Christ's redemptive work and intrust to him the task jof procuring for him the remission of sins and an ad- mission into the divine favor, the work shall be ac- complished. The man replies that he would certainly rather enjoy the divine favor than rest under the divine condemnation, and that, as he has come to regard Jesus as a divine Being, he could trust him to procure that favor for him as easilj as he could trust a faithful clerk with a matter of business. But there is something about the proposition that causes hi in to hesitate, and he finally asks this question: "Will anything else be required of me after this justifica- tion?" ''O yes," we tell him, *'just beyond this there stands a cross on which you are to be crucified ; your present self is to be slain. The world-life, to which you cling so fondly, is to be abandoned. You are to take Christ as your master, and devote your- self to a life of holy consecration. You are to bear his cross, and this new life may bring you into many 179 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM troubles. You may meet with strong opposition and suffer the loss of every worldly good, and even be re- quired to suffer martyrdom for Christ's sake." It is plain that the man regards this as a very serious matter. He, however, says that he would like to ask us one further question : "Suppose I do not do these things, will my justification save me in the end?" "Oh, no," we tell him, "it is only those who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honor and immortality that shall inherit eternal life." And then we tell him of the judgment scene, described by Christ (Mt. xxv. 31-46), where the vast multitude who stand before the Judge are divided into two companies, the one upon the right and the other upon the left; and that, as soon as the Judge speaks, we learn that both companies are believers^ and are equally trustiiig Christ for salvation, and that their acceptance or rejection depends on loyal, loving devotion to him, betraying itself in deeds of love to the humblest of his people; and that the vast com- pany on the left, though they had trusted in him for salvation, are, for lack of this devotion, sent away into punishment. The man is very serious and, after a period of silence, says: "I do not see that my justification would do me very much good, without a holy life to follow it." Now, it will be impossible for this man to consider and decide this question of his justification, and shut out of view that which is to follow; and, in reaching his decision, the stress of motive will lie almost exclusively at this point. Although we presented the question to him without mentioning that which was to follow, he has been unwilling to decide it without 180 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH knowing all; and when he makes his decision, it will be in view of that all. If he is wedded to the worldly life, he will no more take the justification with the cross in sight, than a fish will take the bait with the hook in view. In vain do we spread the snare in the presence of the bird. And, even if this man should feel inclined to take such a useless justification, he would reflect that, by practicing such a deliberate imposition on Christ, he would but incur a deeper condemnation. He will have nothing of the justifi- cation until he is ready to accept the holy life; and when he accepts Christ, trusting in him for justifica- tion, that act toill contain within itself the 7nental acceptance of the life of consecration and obedience. In other words, his acceptance of Christ will contain within itself both a moral and a loyal element: moral because accepting a life of righteousness, loyal because accepting a life of obedience. When the act of trust falls on a being presenting a character like that of Christ, and making such demands, and presenting such alternatives, the trust instantly, and by a law of necessity, is transformed into a moral, loyal trust. It is of the very nature of the gospel to stir the moral nature to its profoundest depths; and it results from this that any normal response which the soul may make to it must be both moral and loyal. That men will not accept Christ as an object of trust until they can do it morally and loyally, is forci- bly declared by Christ himself in Jn. iii. 18, 19, where he says: *'He that believeth on him [the Son] is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the con- 181 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM demnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." It is here declared that the man who is clinging to an evil life will not believe on Christ — will not accept him in any sense — even as an object of trust. It is contrary to nature that he should do so. Christ has for him a strong repellency, causing him to turn from him and flee into the wel- come darkness. And here we have the answer to the oft-made criticism of skeptics, that the Scriptures condemn men for not believing, when their belief or unbelief is a matter beyond their control. Of no such unbelief is condemnation ever asserted. For the man who, in sincere loyalty to duty and truth, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, seeks to know the truth that he may honor it by obedience, the Scriptures have no word but blessing, and his doubts and mis- givings call forth only the divine sympathy and help. But such has not been the natural history of the world's unbelief. Its great fault with Christ has generally been, in every age, that he demanded right- eousness and purity of heart, the death of selfish- ness; and it is simply because faith in him contains a moral element that disbelief merits and receives condemnation. If faith contain no such element, the condemnation of unbelief is an act of pure injustice on the part of God, which no gloss can hide. Having discovered that this faith in Christ is, and must of necessity be, an act of moral, loyal trust, we are prepared to observe another thing regarding it. If any man is deterred from thus loyally accepting Christ by his attachment to a life of sin, something else must happen before this loyal commitment to 182 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH Christ can take place. AVhat is this something? Repentance. Repentance must, in the very nature of the case, precede an act of trust like this. The loyalty of faith is forged in the furnace of repent- ance.* Paul recognized this order, for he declared to the elders of the church at Ephesus, that it had been his practice to testify *'both to Jews and to Greeks re- pentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." The order of words in a single case, it is true, does Dot absolutely determine the order of occurrence; but, when we reflect that this is the uniform order in the New Testament, this order of sequence in expression can hardly be regarded as accidental. But the fact that this faith in Christ needs to be preceded by repentance has been divinely recognized in even a more striking way. It formed one of the underlying principles of the divine statesmanship. John the Baptist was sent as a forerunner to pre- pare the people of Israel for the acceptance of Christ, by bringing them to repentance. Repent- ance toward God, then faith in Christ, was the true order as it lay in the divine Mind; and this is the true significance of the mission of tlohn. His mission was to turn the people to repentance, and his baptism was a "baptism of repentance. "t Nor was this preparation for faith, by repentance, a prepara- tion for the simple belief of the understanding. So to hold would be to impeach the divine wisdom, * See Appendix A., p. 441. fPaul understood John's mission — his "baptism of repentance" — as looking directly forward to faith in Christ (Acts xix, 4). Repentance was regarded as a needed preparation for this faith. 183 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM since a sufficient display of the miraculous would have speedily commanded the conviction of every mind in the nation. The question with which God is grappling is a moral one. Faith in Christ is a moral act, and God is here preparing the people for it by bringing them to repentance. This was not only God's view of the matter; it was also Christ's. When he began to preach, his burden to the people was: "Repent ye, and believe (in faith resign yourself unto*) the gospel" (Mk. i. 15). He wanted no faith short of that great morale loyal trust which follows repentance. Thus we discover that what we have seen must be true regarding this trust which arises in an acceptance of Christ as Savior, is so recognized both by the language of Scripture and by the methods of the divine procedure. We are now prepared to take another step. The ruling principle of the Christian life is Love. With- out this, Paul declares the Christian character value- less. It is the vital element in faith and that power by virtue of which it works (Gal. v. 6). When faith loses its love, it is already stricken with paralysis; it can no longer act. There are two great motive forces which may lie behind action — selfishness and love. Mere trust itself cannot act. Trust may work by either selfishness or love. In the business world it works by selfishness; but a faith whose motive of action is no higher than this is not acceptable to Christ. Now, how does this love come into being? In his first epistle (ch. iv. 19), John tells us that, "We love, *So Winer defines it in his Grammar of New Testament Greek. §31, 5. Compare also Mt. xxi. 32. 184 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH because He first loved us." This is the great law of love-iTiaking the world over. Now, when does Christ's love become operative with the sinner? The very moment he comes to regard him as the Son of God. Then the advent of Christ into the world becomes in his sight a divine incarnation, and the sufferings of Calvary become the throes of the divine heart for a wandering son. Now, like a flood of sun- shine, the whole vision of the Father's yearning and suffering love bursts upon him; and this may touch his heart and form one of his earliest motives to repentance. But, if not, can his spirit, as the work of conversion proceeds, grow mellow in repentance and, under this flood of divine tenderness, be quick- ened to no responsive affection? If it be so, what hope that he will ever be moved under the continued action of the same influence? It must be so, and it will be so, under all normal action of the gospel; and, when tiie soul commits itself to Christ in loyal trust, it will be also with a warm heart. The commitment will be a loving commitment. It will be an act of the heart. It must be so. Under the divine compulsion of the cross it becomes inevitably so. When trust falls on such an object, it throbs with emotion. Dr. Chas. Hodge, in view of this principle, says: "When moral or religious truth is its [faith's] object, it is always attended by the exercise of the affections."* A cold conversion is a misnomer; a heartless faith is * It would, however, be a mistake to suppose that this affection is the ripened and expanded love of the mature Christian life. It is gratitude and affection toward 6>;/^ Being, — Christ, and God in Christ, — a germ which contains the promise and potency of all that is to follow. It is the one sweet note which is at length to swell into the full diapason of love to all men, including even the enemy — that music of the soul which is called righteousness. 185 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM a monstrosity. It is a miscarriage of the converting forces of the gospel. Such is our reasoning, founded on the nature of the object on which, and the conditions under which, this trust takes place, as presented in the gospel. Is this reasoning correct? Let us submit it to the stern test of fact, that we may, if possible, detect any flaw in its linked certainty. How do men accept Christ under the preaching of the gospel? Do they receive him selfishly, as a mere object of trust; without loyalty, without repentance, without feeling? Go into a revival, and see. Such bare, bald faith has no existence in actual life, under the true preaching of the gospel. The conversions of nearly nineteen centuries have laid their seal on the nature of that faith which is actually being counted for righteousness. Like the voice of many waters, the sublime answer comes to us from all the Christian ages, that the convert's trust in Christ is morale loyal and loving. The vision of Christ always lays this holy spell upon the heart; and, when the soul springs to meet him in faith, its trust is always this beautiful thing, fragrant with the very spirit of holiness.. It is the most beautiful thing in the world. Let u*s now be careful to note that it is the accept- ance of Christ as an object of trust, that contains 7oitInn itself all these elements. They do not belong to something else, but are qualities belonging to this one act. We do not accept Christ as an object of trust, and then accept him as an object of loyalty, and then, by a third act, accept the holy life which he requires us to undertake. The acceptance of Christ is one act carrying loithin itself all these elements. That the acceptance of Christ as an object of trust 186 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH is a monil, loyal, loving act, is therefore overwhelm- ingly proved, both by the nature of the conditions under which it takes place, and by the almost infinite experience of nearly nineteen centuries. Before proceeding further, let us pause here to notice a matter which cannot be so well-considered elsewhere: Some theologians have felt it necessary to make faith consist of bare trust, excluding any moral or loyal element, lest such elements should conflict wnth the doctrine of salvation by grace. But theologians have as little to do with determining what faith shall be as Canute had in commanding the waves of the sea. It is not even a question of Scrip- ture interpretation. Trust in Christ has been just this moral, lo3al, loving thing for nearly nineteen centuries, and it will continue to be exactly this for- ever. He who would change it has a graver task before him than that of manipulating Scripture statements. He must change either the nature of the human mind or the motive forces of the gospel. Erase the word faith from the Bible, but let the moral and spiritual forces of the gospel play upon the human soul, and this beautiful flower will blos- som there just the same. The woman that was a sinner was not commanded to kneel and weep and kiss the feet of the Master; she could not help it. If Paul had failed to see that faith possessed these characteristics, it would have made no difference regarding the thing, provided the forces that bring it into existence were present. Gravitation existed before Newton discoved it. We are now dealing simply with a question of fact-, which lies directly under our eye, and which we are entirely competent to observe. Later, it will be in place to inquire what 187 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM the inspired writers think about it. We can see the sun in the heavens and tell its shape, without any help; we can see personal trust in Christ, and tell what it must be, and what it is, without any help. The tides of the ocean rise to the level they reach, not because of any command, but by the attraction of the sun and moon ; trust in Christ rises to the moral and spiritual level it reaches, not simply because the Scriptures demand that it shall, but by the attraction of the Sun of Righteousness. It is a question of spiritual physics; it is a proper subject of scientific observation and demonstration. Stand, if you will, on the shore of the human heart; fling adverse inter- pretations of Scripture in its way; bid it come "thus far and no farther" — and its waves will roll over you, and the tide of trust will stay not till it registers loyalty and love, under the divine gravitation of the Son of Grod. If the doctrine of grace can make no room for a trust like this, it must go in pieces on this rock, for you cannot change this. While human nature remains what it is, and gospel motives remain what they are, personal trust in Christ will continue to be just this. But it is not true that such a faith is in any way I:.^iConsisteiit with the doctrine of salvation by grace, cr favor. Let man do his best, and he can do little more than try to be righteous — little more than ^'hunger and thirst after righteousness." After all, he does but cling to the strength of another, and open his heart, that the righteousness of another may take place in him. And this very receptiveness is only possible to a moral, loyal, loving trust. There is no moral or spiritual receptiveness in a bald, selfish 188 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYINd FAITH trust. It leaves the door of the heart still shut against God. It can have no value beyond that of a speculative plaything. It is further to be considered that, should we suc- ceed in evacuating faith of any moral worth, we should not thereby escape the supposed difficulty, since remission of sins (justification) is clearly madc^ conditional on vepeMance in Acts ii. 38, and repen- tance is a moral act. %3. Other Conditions Deterniining the Nature of this Faith. We have seen that Christian faith is trust; that it begins in an act of the will; that it is preceded by repentance, and is therefore moral; that it is loyal; and that it is loving — that it is a moral, loyal, loving acceptance of Christ. Faith gains all these charac- teristics from the object on which it rests and the conditions under which it takes place. It becomes such under laws of spiritual causation. But we have not yet explored all the shaping influences which determine the character of this faith. We have seen that this faith, or trust, has its beginning in an act of acceptance. But acceptance is a relative act, and is conditioned by some antecedent proffer. We can never accept what is not offered. Should we come into possession of any ol>ject which has not been offered, it would not be through accep- tance. The acceptance which forms a constituent element in faith is, accordingly, an act in response to a divine proffer. This opens up a vast realm of modifying influences which may tend still further to shape the character of Christian faith. We shall best understand this by considering a few illustra- tions. 189 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM A gentleman, meeting a lady with whom he is acquainted, in a railway station, offers to procure her ticket for her and look after her baggage, and she cordially accepts his offer. Here the offer is to do some trifling service, and the acceptance embraces this and no more, and there the incident closes. Some time after, on visiting her at her home, he hands her a beautiful present, and says, "Will you accept this?" The object is something which she greatly desires to possess, but she may hesitate, or refuse. She feels that the proffer means more this time than before, and that the acceptance will iavolve all that the proffer implies. She realizes that the import of an acceptance is as extensive as that of the offer, and takes its color and character from it, and she may decline the gift. But if she does decide to accept it, let us notice that she will not accept it in the same marine}' as she accepted the trifling service on the former occasion. The gentlemen is holding out his hand toward her with the gift, and if she accepts it she will not simply permit him to do something for her, but will reach forth her hand and take it. The conditions of the proffer are this time such that acceptance is not simply passive acquiescence, but a tahing. On another occasion the gentleman visits her and makes a very different proffer — the proffer of himself. He asks that she will accept him as her husband. If she accepts this offer it will not be a mere incident soon past, but will involve her life- long destiny, and to a greater degree than any other acceptance can. She will not accept this offer until she is ready to grant all, and then she will accept the offer with all that it involves. Let us observe further that if she does decide to accept, there will 190 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITJI be two acceptances — one which is called consent, or engagement, and one which is called a taking, or marriage. In the first acceptance she does not accept the man as her husband, but accepts his proposal that she take him as her husband at some future time. The one acceptance is simply the promise of the other; the engagement is the promise of marriage; it is a step preparatory to the taking by the parties of each other as husband and wife. Let us further notice that this great acceptance which is of the nature of a taking constitutes an abiding relation, which, on account of its closeness and intimacy, is called union (^one-ion), and the man and wife are said to be one. Now, the gentleman's proposal was, that she receive him in this intimate relation, and when she so accepts him under proper conditions, that ACCEPTANCE constitutes the union. On a former occasion the gentleman offered her a present, but this offer did not make the object hers until she completed the transaction by taking it. He now offers himself as her husband; and when she takes him as such, he becomes her hiisband, and this her acceptance, or taking, consummates the union which is called marriage. The proper conditions being present, the woman, by accepting, or taking this man as her husband, enters into union with him. Here, then, is an acceptance which constitutes a relation, and that relation a union. Now, what is the nature of the divine proffer? Not simply on certain conditions to remit our sins, but that we shall enter into union with Christ, so that we shall be *'in him" and he "in us." The re- lation contemplated is even closer than that of mar- riage, and no less tender; and remission of sins is not 191 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM offered apart from this relation, but through it. If we accept the divine proffer we shall accept all this, for it is all embraced in the offer. But as the accept- ance of marriage is not a passive acquiescence, but an active taking, so the acceptance of Christ, which is also the acceptance of a person, — not a passive recep- tion of some benefit at his hands, — is sl taking of Christ as our Savior, and in the holy relation of life-union with him. When Christ makes this proffer he does his part preparatory to entering into union with us; when we accept him, or take him in this relation, under proper conditions, we enter into union with him. But we have seen that the faith that is reck- oned for righteousness begins in an act of the will, and that act an acceptance; and as there can be no acceptance of anything that js not offered, and as the gospel offers none of its blessings except "in Christ," it follows that this faith must be an accept- ance of Christ in this relation of union, or in other words, the convert's mental act of entering into union with Christ. We must be careful, however, to dis- tinguish between the two stages of trust — that of re- pentance, and that which follows repentance. When, in repentance the sinner resolves to take Christ as his Savior, a species of anticipative trust arises, but this is not appropriative. No mere resolve appropriates anything. But when the penitent turns his mind toward Christ, and in a welcoming act, under proper conditions, definitely receives him into the life, — an act which is not simply determinative but social in nature, — he appropriates Christ and enters into union with him. He then, for the first time, trusts him as his Savior. His trust is practical and possessive. Faith in Christ is, therefore, not only a moral, 192 THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH loyal, loving acceptance of Christ, but the spiritual act of entering into union with him. It is by its very nature such a spiritual act, and the only one by which we can enter into union with Christ. There is no other step in conversion that possesses this character. The belief of the truth concerning Christ is not a union-forming act. It may be present in those who are at enmity with him. James says "the devils be- lieve and tremble." Repentance, which involves a change of feeling and purpose, though it is indispen- sable and forms the moral and sympathetic basis for union, is not in itself union-forming. Only the act of will that reaches forth and takes Christ as one's own in a carefully-considered, definite and unreserved commitment and reception, is by nature union-consti- tuting. And acceptance of Christ becomes this from the fact that Christ offers himself only in this rela- tion. Let it be granted only that faith is trust, and the conditions under which it takes place in Chris- tianity cause it to be not only a moral, loyal, loving acceptance of Christ, but the act of entering into union with him. We do not now pause to inquire what the Scriptures teach on this subject, but simply note what mast be through the operation of spiritual laws. But there is another element in the situation which gives its color to the act of acceptance of Christ and calls for a further descriptive designation. When we take a present from the hand of another, or when a man and woman take each other as husband and wife, there is nothing in the case that calls for strenuous effort, and the word tahe sufficiently describes the act; but when men enter into union with Christ, they take him as their Savior from evils from which 13 193 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM they struggle to be freed with extreme difficulty, and which make the taking of Christ a matter of strenu- ous spiritual effort. When, therefore, we have in view this aspect of the act, we most fitly speak of it as a laying hold on Christ, and its continuance as a dinging to him. The particular conditions under which it takes place cause it to be not simply an ac- ceptance, but a strenuous grasping and clinging of the soul, as one being saved from great perils; but as the connection thus formed is intimate and life-lasting, it is also a union. There is another aspect of the case also which calls for a stronger designation than the mere word accept- ance. We may accept things from our equals or inferiors, and under conditions of no prior obligation, but the conditions here are such as largely to change the color of acceptance. God has been our rightful ruler, and in our sinful life we have disregarded his claims. His proffer of salvation is on condition that we submit to his will. This will cause our accept- ance to be a surrender — an acceptance of the divine authority together with the divine blessing. But even this does not fully describe the situation; for the thing to be done is not simply to transform us into loyal subjects. We are the victims of a great helplessness and cannot save ourselves. Our only hope is to put ourselves into the hands of another, who must do the saving, and obediently to co-operate with him in his efforts. But this complete commit- ment is most fitly described as self-surrender. This, with its double aspect of submission to authority and self-commitment for salvation, is the most adequate designation of the acceptance of faith. Any accept- ance must, under such conditions, naturally be self- surrender, i94 CHAPTEE III. WHERE DOES THIS SPIRITUAL ACT TAKE PLACE? We are now prepared to take another step in our investigation. We have seen that trust, when taking place under Christian conditions, becomes a moral, loyal, loving acceptance of Christ and entrance into union with him; or, to give it other expression, it is a complete self-surrender to and laying hold on Christ, continued in a life-lasting clinging to him. But there are still other conditions whose influence on this faith remains to be considered, and we are now prepared to ask in the light of spiritual laws this question: At what point in the spiritual history will this mental step take place? This will depend on two things — the nature of the spiritual act itself, and the conditions under which it takes place. It now becomes necessary to distinguish this mental act from two other mental acts which are also called faith, and which resemble it in some respects. When conclusive proof of any fact is presented to the mind, belief follows immediately and involun- tarily. True, a certain bias of feeling may some- times interfere with belief, especially if the evidence be not very strong; but, if the mind believes at all, it will believe immediately. It cannot say to itself, I will not credit this now, but will believe it after the lapse of thirty days. Such a mental procedure would be impossible. But this belief is not trust, and is regulated by a different law from that of the faith we are considering. There is, however, a form of trust which is subject to the same law. 195 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM A young lady far away from home is threatened with a dire disaster which she sees no way to avert. She is weeping in her room, when a knock is heard at the door, and her father enters, and after an affection- ate greeting, leads ber to the sofa, takes her hand in his, and in strong, kind words, says: "Daughter, I knosv all about it, and I am going to save you. I have taken the matter in hand and it will soon be all over. Do not weep. It will be all right. And now while I go out for a little, lie down and rest." A smile of joy breaks through her tears, and when the father returns she is sleeping sweetly. She has trusted; and she did it immediately. For her to have said, ''I will go on in my despair for another night, and then at ten o'clock to-morrow morning trust father," would have been impossible. If she trusts him at all, she will do so as soon as the conditions of the trust are pre- sented. Here trust is involuntary and, by its very nature, immediate. But all this is very different in the case of a trust that begins in an act of the will. A man goes to a physician to consult regarding an ailment that is causing him much trouble. After examifiing the case, the physician says, "Do you drink?" — "Yes." — "Well, I can cure you in a short time if you w^ill let liquor alone, but I will not consent to take your case unless you do." The man is very much wedded to his cups, and says: "I cannot tell what I will do about it to-day. Perhaps I will see you again." The man is not trusting that physician for a cure, nor can he do so till he accepts his services. The conditions of such a trust are all before him; but it does not take place immediately, may never take place, or may take place at some future time. The introduction of the volitional element may affect the 196 WHERE DOES THIS SPIRITUAL ACT TAKE PLACE question of time in different wa}^^, and it is possible for our patient to say to himself, "I will have one more week of carousal, and then I will break off and put myself into the doctor's hands"; and until the week elapses and he does so, he will not be trusting the doctor for a cure. Thus it is possible that a voluntary faith may be placed some time in the future. This is precisely what men often do regarding Christ. They say, "I will enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time, and then give myself up to Christ." Until they do this, they do not trust him as their Savior, though the conditions of such trust have long been before them. The point for us to note is, that a voluntary trust may occupy various positions with respect to time, and just when it will take place may depend on a variety of conditions. We are now prepared for the question, At what time, under the conditions as we find them in Chris- tianity, will this acceptance of Christ in a relation of life-union take place? We may answer that, unless there be some grave reasons which demand delay, it will take place immediately after repentance. In speaking of this faith as an act of union with Christ, I have compared it to the act by which the union of marriage is consummated ; but there is one important particular in which the two cases diifer. There is notiiing in conversion which corresponds to the engagement which precedes marriage. A man and woman may agree to take each other as husband and wife at some designated time in the future; and such an engagement implies that they shall live in their present state for a certain period, and then exchange it for the marriage relation; and they are at perfect liberty to do this. But not so with the Christian 197 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM convert. For the sinner to say, "Lord, I will sur- render myself to thee one year from now," would be immoral, because it would involve a determination ttB continue in sin for another year. And if Christ should consent to such an arrangement his act w^ould also be immoral, because it would be granting the license to sin. It is not the duty of a woman to marry a certain man, and therefore cannot be her duty to do so at any particular time; it is the duty of the sinner to sur- render to Christ and lay hold on his saving mercy, to enter into union with him,* and therefore it is not a matter optional with him when he shall do it. We have in connection with marriage (1) love, or change of heart; (2) the formation of a mental purpose to grant the suitor's request; (3) the engagement; (4) the actual union of marriage. We have in conversion (1) a change of heart, which takes place in repent- ance; (2) the formation of a purpose to surrender to Christ and receive him as our Savior, the final ele- ment in repentance; (3) the mental act of giving one's self up to Christ and entering into union with him. There can be no temporizing with regard to this last step, for all delays for pleasure or policy's sake are sinful and vitiate the repentance. So far as such considerations are concerned, this faith must take place immediately; not for a rational or emo- tional reason, as in the case of the two other forms of faith spoken of, but for a moral reason. But, while no temporizing conditions can be per- * It is only of those that are in Christ that it is said that there is no condemnation (Rom. viii. 1). The Scriptures consider those who have not entered into union with Christ as living in sin, and therefore still under condemnation. He who neglects union with the Source that shall make righteousness practicable is prolonging his sin. 198 WHERE DOES THIS SPIRITUAL ACT TAKE PLACE mitted to delay this spiritual step, the question arises whether there may be any conditions whatever that can do so. And to this we must answer, There can. We saw in an earlier part of this ^vork that mere repentance does not sever us from the sinful life — that there are certain sins of a self-perpetuating nature which must be undone before they can be ter- minated, and that while we may not commit any fresh acts of transgression, we are just as guilty in passive- ly permitting these wrongs to continue, as if we were actually perpetrating new offenses. The touching of a torch to a building in which there are sleeping in- mates is an act of the nature of murder, but, though the perpetrator may repent of having done this, every moment that he sees the flames mounting to their work of death and does nothing to quench them, to give an alarm, or to waken the sleepers, he is per- petuating the original act of murder. We saw that in view of this it had been a principle of the divine gov- ernment, both in the Old and in the New Testaments, to require that such wrongs be righted before accept- ing any religious offerings from the offender. We saw also that, with the man who had been living away from Christ in a life of sin, the weight of his influ- ence was against Christ and his kingdom, and that this great wrong would continue in full force despite any mere mental act on his part, and that the step necessary to undoing this wrong is pro/ess/o?^; and that, in accordance with this, profession has been made a condition of divine acceptance. If the peni- tent realizes these things — and if he does not he should be taught them — he will be stayed in his pur- pose to make an offering of himself to God until he can do so consistently with these moral conditions. 1P9 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM But this will cause him to delay his self-offering until profession, — or rather, he will not so much delay his self-offering as hasten his profession, — and in that act he will surrender himself to Christ. Thus, the moral element in this spiritual act will determine that it shall take place in profession, and the particular act which God has ordained as a means of profession is baptism. The teachings of the *New Testament on this point are very clear, and he who accepts them without bias will not be inclined to make what he re- gards as an unacceptable offering of himself to God, but will hasten to fulfil those moral conditions which will insure divine acceptance. There may be, there- fore, a very brief interval between repentance and this act of self-surrender. There is another reason why this spiritual act should not take place before profession. The spirit- ual faculties have just been quickened into action, and as they are new and untried forces in the life, there is no means of knowing how strong they are. But the convert's faith must be strong enough to face the world in profession, or he cannot live the Christian life before men. If he realizes this, he will not be inclined to present his faith for accept- ance until he is assured of its fitness to fulfil faith's purpose, and he will instinctively seek some test of its strength before offering himself to God. An act of profession furnishes such a test. The act of self- surrender will, therefore, by virtue of a spiritual law, take place at the time of profession. Still further, however strong this faith may be, it cannot succeed alone; and recognizing this, God has furnished two strong arms of power to support it. These are Christ and his Church. If the first is 200 WHERE DOES TPIIS SPIRITUAL ACT TAKE PLACE mighty, so is tlie second; and no faitli that feels its own insufficiency will venture to offer itself for acceptance apart from these forces that condition its success, especially as God has nowhere promised such acceptance. Now, connection with one of these spiritual forces — Christ — can be made by an act of the mind, but connection with the church can only be made by a visible act of the nature of profession. The convert is therefore not ready to make his self- offering to God before profession, and this offering will fitly take place in that act. Again, the fountains of the great deep have been broken up in the convert's heart, and the rushing to- gether of the wanderer and the waiting Father will be an act of the most intense emotion. No other such greeting occurs within the span of a human life. But the heart when deeply moved spurns the feebler forms of expression and longs for the eager kiss, the fond embrace, and other most tender acts of endearment. To deny it these were to starve it and quench its holy fires. There is no more sweetly solemn act than Christian baptism — none which could be more precious to the heart at this point. If there be deep feeling the soul will long to present itself to Christ in such an act; if there be not, the conversion is not what it should be. With eager joy the soul will seize upon such an act in which to present its surrender to Christ and there receive the divine kiss of absolution. Baptism, on its inner or spiritual side is justification by faith. There the faith — the self-surrender — takes place, and there the justifica- tion—that is, if the heart has its way. But the heart will not delay its surrender for baptism; it will rather bring baptism to its own sweet time, and that will be 201 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM immediately. And so it was in the apostolic days. All these moral, practical, and spiritual reasons will conspire to cause this spiritual act which constitutes the faith that is reckoned for righteousness to take place in baptism; and it is only the ignoring of these important considerations that will cause it to take place earlier. But it remains to mention one other condition that will render it impossible for this spir- itual act to take place sooner. j^ It has already been seen that an acceptance without an offer is impossible, and that no acceptance can go before an offer, or be larger or otherwise conditioned than the offer. Now, consistently with the princi- ples just mentioned, the gospel places an act of pro- fession (baptism) as a condition in its proffer of salvation; it makes baptism a condition of remission of sins, or salvation (Acts ii. 38; xxii. 16; 1. Pet. iii. 21, et al), and the act by which we enter into union with Christ (Gal. iii. 26, 27; Kom. vi. 3, 5). In view of this fact the soul cannot take Christ as its own or enter into union with him before that act. It cannot do this even mentally, because it cannot accept what is not offered, even though it might desire to do so. A woman cannot enter into union with a man who has not offered himself in marriage, however she might wish to do so; and the mental act of taking him as her husband which takes place in marriage, 1 cnnnot take place even in her mind before that time. No man can buy a farm which is not for sale; the mental steps even of such a transaction cannot take place; and if the owner consents only to sell his farm for $5,000, no such transaction, even mentally, can take place on a basis of $4,000. The acceptance must be as the proffer; its conditions and tin\e cannot be 202 WHERE DOES THIS SPIRITUAL ACT TAKE PLACE different. In the apostolic age, when baptism was made a condition of remission of sins and union with Christ, this spiritual act took placeAn baptism, and not before it; and under the same teaching it would inevitably do so now. When the mighty reasons why baptism should be made a condition of acceptance are realized, and the fact that the Scriptures make it so is preached, it will have the effect, not of suspend- ing remission of sins on a merely formal act, but of placing the faith that is reckoned for righteousness m baptism; and the tendency will be to hasten bap- tism rather than delay faith. In conversion, for moral, practical, and spiritual reasons, the heart should be ready to present its surrender to Christ very soon, and it is then that baptism should take place. This will cause its performance, as in the apostolic age, at the very time of conversion. Place baptism where the heart demands it, and it cannot be empty; but put it out of place, and it becomes a useless form. We are now prepared to attend to another fact. The taking of this spiritual step, which, as we have seen, occurs in baptism, ushers in Christian faith — faith as it is found in the Christian life. Not till this moment does faith in this form exist. This step is not a mere incident in the spiritual history, leaving the state of mind where it was before, but the entrance upon a new stage of trust quite different from anything that has preceded it. When a Chris- tian prays or performs any other Christian duty he does not enter on a new and different stage of experi- ence, but his attitude toward God and Christ remains what it was before the act, though he may have been strengthened and otherwise blessed; the charac- 203 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM ter of his mental state has not been changed. But not so with this spiritual step; not till this is taken does the convert reach the stage of Christian faith, and possess that faith in all its essentiel qualities. It would not be true to say, however, that several of its elements have not had an earlier origin. He first believed the truth regarding Christ, which constitutes the intellectual element of his faith. He then re- pented of his sins and determined to lay hold on Christ and surrender himself to his authority and keeping, and with this purpose there arose a species of auticipative trust that Christ would become his Savior when he fulfilled this purpose in giving him- self up to him; but Christ is not yet his, and he has not yet entered into union with him.* Then comes the spiritual act in which he mentally utters to Christ his surrender: "I give myself to thee, I take thee as my Lord and Savior, forsaking all my sins and enter- ing upon a righteous life. Accept me as thine," This mental act, as we have seen, in view of all the con- * I have no doubt that many persons regard wgy^z';?,^ up nnf;\/o'/'6'^^ to serve him. It is very common to blend mental acts which are closely related, as cause and effect, into one conception; and much confusion results therefrom, which sometimes leads to important errors. The dis- tinction in this case is an important one; for God does not forgive even the Christian's sins in view of his mere repentance; prayer, confession, and forgiveness of others, are also conditions (Mt. vi. 12; Lk. xi. 4; IJn. i. 9). 204 WHERE DOES THIS SPIRITUAL ACT TAKE PLACE ditions, falls in baptism; and as it is the act of accept- ance of the divine proffer, it is the act of appropria- tion of the divine blessing. This spiritual act is by its very nature appropynation (appropriative faith), and as what is appropriated is afterward possessed, it becomes possessive faith — something that has not existed till this moment. An anticipative trust which rose as an incident to repentance looked forward to Christ's becoming our Savior; this rests in him as already ours. The mental states are quite different, and it is this possessive trust that is to continue throughout the Christian life. This is Christian faith — the faith of the Christian life. It is also the faith that justifies; since, according to the principles of the divine government with respect to perpetuated sins, no earlier self-offering can be accepted. For important moral, practical, and spiritual reasons this faith does not antedate, but finds embodiment in. Christian baptism as a solemn act of profession, and thus baptism becomes a condition of the justification accorded to faith. We have now made a long journey. Starting with faith as a mere act of unethical, unspiritual trust, we have watched the interaction of spiritual laws and gospel conditions until we have seen it grow glorious and blossom into one of the sublimest acts of the human soul. We have discovered not only what this faith is, but when, in view of the moral, practical, and spiritual conditions which affect it, it will natur- ally take place. And in all this we have not been dependent on any of the statements of the Scriptures regarding it, beyond the mere fact that it is some kind of trust. It will now remain for us to inquire 205 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM how the writers of the Scriptures regard it. Have they also made this journey and reached the same conclusion? or rather, have they seen all these things intuitively, without resort to any course of reasoning? and does their language show that they looked upon these facts as we have found them to exist? They might have seen less than we have discovered and still been inspired, and they might have seen all and not have spoken of it; for they were not given to philosophic disquisitions. They never undertake to give us a natural history of faith, and what they thought concerning it must be gleaned from their references to it when speaking of other subjects. As preparatory to a correct understanding of their references to it, let us pause to make one further in- quiry: If faith be what we have found it to be, how, in accordance with the ordinary habits of speech, will they be likely to speak of it? 1. If faith be the spiritual element in baptism, it will be natural for them to use faith and baptism inter- changeably in some connections, ascribing to baptism what faith accomplishes, and when speaking concern- ing the nature of faith to describe what takes place in baptism. If the spiritual act which justifies takes place in baptism, we shall expect to find such lan- guage of identification, which otherwise would seem strange. 2. It would be natural to speak of salvation as be- ing by faith, without mentioning baptism; and if in other places baptism should be spoken of as a condi- tion of salvation, there would be no contradiction, and the writers would not feel called upon to make any explanation as though the statements were incompat- 206 WHERE DOES THIS SPIRITUAL ACT TAKE PLACE ible. Salvation by faith would, as a matter of course, be salvation by baptism, and vice versa. 3. As this spiritual act which takes place in bap- tism possesses various intellectual, moral, and spir- itual qualities, and as these do not all come into existence at the same time, but through a process in- volving successive steps, the act of believing might at times be viewed as taking place at the point of its consummation, and at other times as a process in- volving ail the steps of conversion; and on still other occasions the writers might have in mind some partic- ular step in the series, and use faith to designate it. Thus, in some cases men would be told to believe and do something else in order to salvation, and at other times to believe and they should be saved; and these statements would not be inconsistent, but the connec- tion would be likely to show that the word was used in one case in a narrower, and in another in a wider, sense. It might sometimes appear that the belief referred to was mere intellectual assent, again that it included this with repentance, and again that it in- volved the entire spiritual process of conversion. Such various uses of words are very common, and may be found on nearly every page of our diction- aries. If faith be referred to by the Scripture writers in any of the above ways it will be in perfect accord with what we have discovered regarding it; but it would be incompatible with some other views of it. 207 CHAPTER IV. abkaham's faith. Before proceeding to consider at length the Scrip- ture teaching regarding the nature of faith and its relation to baptism, it will be well to pause and examine more fully the character of Abraham's faith, concerning which we have only thus far elicited the fact that it was trust. What was this faith? what was its setting in Abraham's spiritual history? and how far does it coincide with Christian faith? §i. The Nature of Abraham's Faith and its Cor- respondence with Christian Faith. Paul founds his argument on justification by faith on an incident in the life of Abraham, in which a mental act representing a mental state is said to have been counted to him for righteousness.* That incident is recorded in the 15th chapter of Genesis. Let us take our stand there and look about us and see what we can discover. What was this faith that was then counted for righteousness? I. It was not the belief on the part of Abraham of the truth regarding the being and nature of God. There was a time when Abraham took this step, for * The Old Testament record of the life of Abraham has lately received very free handling by Higher Critics; but this can in no way affect our argument, though even their most extreme con- clusions should be adopted. Paul took this record just as it stands, and we must do so if we would understand his use of it. Were it our object to make an independent use of this narrative, some reference to the questions raised by modern criticism might be necessary; but for our present purpose they can have no bearing. 208 ABRAHAM S FAITH his father was an idolater (Josh. xxiv. 2), but it was long before this counting of his faith for righteous- ness to which Paul refers. Clearly, then, no mental act of a similar character can constitute the faith that is reckoned for righteousness in the gospel dispensa- tion. The intellectual belief in the divinity and Messiahship of Jesus cannot be the faith that justi- fies, though it certainly forms an element in that faith. 2. Abraham's faith to which Paul refers was not followed by repentance as an antecedent condition of its being counted for righteousness, but was so count- ed immediately, without waiting for any subsequent act, either mental or physical. No faith, therefore, that needs to be supplemented by repentance can be the faith that is counted for righteousness, for it can- not be the faith of Abraham. The narrative not only makes no mention of repentance as following Abra- ham's faith, but positively excludes it. It is the office of repentance to make the heart and life loyal, but Abraham had been conspicuously loyal to God for many years. Moreover, the language of God to Abra- ham immediately preceding this act of faith that God counted to him for righteousness excludes the idea of unloyalty or unfaithfulness to God : ' 'Fear not, Abra- ham; I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward" was the approving address with which he was greeted. The purpose of repentance had already been realized in Abraham's character; his faith sprang out of a loyal heart. But this involves more: Abraham liad already repented. When this took place we do not know, but we know that there was a time when he did not believe in the true God, and he could not be loyal to a Being in whom he did not believe. Follow- ing this belief there must have been a time when he 14 209 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM resolvea to forsake all that was inconsistent with the service of God and enter upon that service with full purpose of heart. But this was repentance. How profound this repentance was we can only judge by its fruits, and the narrative represents him as one of the most obedient and faithful of the servants of God. Not till within a few years has the human eye looked upon the source of the Nile, but all mankind have been no less sure that it had a source. So the earlier ex- periences of Abraham are hidden from view. We do not meet him till he is seventy-five years old, and then find hiui a loyal, devout servant of God. This char- acter must have had a source. The world could not see the source of the Nile, but the river was there, and there could be no doubt about the source. With Abraham the loyal, devout character is there, and there can be no doubt about the repentance. How deep it was we cannot say, but it took place, and produced some most wholesome fruit. But the faith that Paul refers to as having been counted for right- eousness came after this repentance. So far, there- fore, as Abraham's case has any bearing, the faith that is now counted for righteousness must follow, not precede, repentance. With the Christian convert, as with Abraham, the faith that justifies must spring out of a loyal heart. 3. FroQi an examination of the narrative in Gene- sis XV. we do not find that Abraham's mental act that was counted for righteousness was an act of self -sur- render. It is represented only as an act of trust in view of a promise which God had made to him. But that God is our rightful Ruler and our needed Savior is founded in the nature of things, and self-surrender must have been just as necessary for Abraham as for 210 ABRAHAM'S FAITH any other person. How is it, then, that we find no trace of this step in that faith that was counted to Abraham for righteousness? The answer is, that it had already taken place. How do we know this? Because we find him in the actual service and in the absolute keeping of God, and he could not have reached that relation without putting himself there. When that self-surrender took place we do not know, but the most detailed account of it could not make the fact more certain. At some time in his past life he had, in an act of repentance, made up his mind to give himself up to God, and some time following that resolve ho had made a commitment of his life to God. This was self-surrender; and this fact furnishes a most excellent reason why the faith spoken of in Genesis xv. was not an act of self-surrender. When a man is already in a house, he cannot enter it. Abraham's act of trust that was counted for right- eousness sprang out of a loyal, committed life, and partook of these qualities without originating them. There is another thing to be noted. We saw when considering the nature of Christian faith, that there are two stages of trust — one which arises as an inci- dent to repentance, and one which succeeds self-=sur= render. The one is anticipative; the other possessive. The one is transient and soon gives place to some- thing else ; the other is the abiding faith of the Chris- tian life. The one looks forward to being in a cove- nant relation with Christ; the other abides in that relation. Which of these corresponds to that faith of Abraham that was counted for righteousness? Certainly not anticipative trust, for any anticipation which he may have indulged before his self-surrender was long before the faith spoken of in Gen. xv., 211 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM which succeeded his self-surrender. The promise which God gave him was not conditional, to be ap- propriated only in the performancee of some future act. It was his already. His trust was that of one already in a covenant relation with God, and it was the permanent faith of his life. It received no new elements after that time, but continued to be the same mental attitude ever after, though growing in strength through trial and obedience. It corresponds to the completed faith of the Christian life, which also remains ever the same in quality, though varying in strength according to the conditions of its exer- cise. So far as the life of Abraham bears on our question, it is the possessive trust that a man has, after having fulfilled all conditions of becoming a Christian, that is counted for righteousness. But this trust of Abraham did not, as in the case of Christian conversion, arise in immediate connec- tion with self-surrender. This brings us to another fact. 4. The trust of Abraham on this occasion was not the first of his trusting in God. He had long not only believed the truth regarding God and been loyal to him, but trusted in him. He had left his former habitation long before at God's direction, and moved by a promise of great blessing to himself and poster- ity. He had been sustained in his pilgrimage and homeless wanderings by this hope, which is a form of trust; and there was nothing in this trust that had called forth the divine disapprobation. The author of the Book of Hebrews speaks of it as a lofty exam- ple of the heroism of faith, and says of those who exercise it, "God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a 212 ABRAHAM S FAITH city" (Heb. xi: 16). God's language to Abraham in Gen. XV. 1, also shows that he enjoyed the divine ap- probation. How, then, did this faith — this trust springing out of a loyal, committed life — differ from the faith that is said in the sixth verse to have been counted to Abraham for righteousness? I think the answer should be, that the latter was very strong— that it arose to the height of heroic trust — and em- braced the miraculous in the object of its confidence. The previous promises in which Abraham had trusted, might all have been fulfilled through the providential workings of God. True, when he left his former home to come into the land of Canaan on the promise that God would make of him a great nation, he was seventy-five years old, and Sarah, his wife, was sixty-five; but he took Lot, his nephew, with him, and may easily have supposed that the promise was to be fulfilled through him. In course of time Lot left him, and he seems to have fallen back on the supposition that the promise was to re- ceive fulfillment through Eliezer, a servant of his house. He did not lose his faith, and was still loyal and true to God, but this change of prospect was a great sorrow to him; and when God commends him and promises to be his "shield" and "exceeding great reward," the words seem to fall almost mockingly on his disappointment, and he breaks silence and tells God the burden of his heart. This calls forth the astounding promise that is either to call forth a sublime faith, or make him an infidel. He is led forth under the starry sky and bidden to count the stars. He cannot number the jeweled splendor, and God says, "So shall thy seed be that shall come forth out of thine own bowels." Abraham was one hun- 213 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM dred years old (Kom. iv.) and his wife was ninety. Could the promise be fulfilled? Nature said, No. Faith faced this tremendous no and said, Yes— and it was counted to him for righteousness. What was this faith that was counted for righteous- ness? A. sublime trust in God's proinise, involving the miraculous^ springing out of a loyal and committed life. This is its character as drawn from the narra- tive of Abraham's life, and this was Paul's view of it. In speaking of it in the Book of Komans (ch. iv. 16- 25), he dwells on its strength and the fact that it was not staggered by what was, according to the laws of nature, impossible, and then concludes, "Wherefore also it was reckoned unto him for righteousness." Paul considers the obstacle to be overcome in the ful- fillment of the promise in this case as great as that of raising the dead; and corresponding to this, the Christian faith includes the belief in an actual resur- rsction and all that it involves. Any faith, therefore, which eliminates the miraculous, cannot correspond to this faith of Abraham which was counted for righteousness, and is lacking in an indispensable feature of Christian faith. Before proceeding further, let us pause and notice one fact that has now come into view. The steps by which Abraham reached that faith that was counted to him for righteousness, were distributed over a period of many years. He first came to the knowl- edge of the true God; then he became loyal to him — a change of attitude which it is the office of repent- ance to bring about; then there was a bowing to the authority of God and committing his whole life to his guidance and keeping; and then, many years later, came this trust that was counted for righteousness. 214 ABRAHAM S FAITH In Christian conversion we have similar steps and in the same order, but with this difference: they take pUice more rapidly. We have, first, the knowledge of the truth concerning God and Christ reached through the faith of the understanding; then repentance; then, following closely, self-surrender, and immedi- ately thereon, possessive trust, or the Christian faith that justifies. Self-surrender is the mental act by which we put ourselves into Christ's hands already waiting to receive us, and it is therefore the act of appropriation, which is by its very nature the begin- ning of possession. Thus, self-surrender and posses- sive faith, in Christian conversion, lie so closely to- gether as to be practically one act, while Abraham's self-surrender and the faith that was accounted to him for righteousness were separated by many years. What is the cause of this shortening of perspec- tive in Christian conversion? Simply this: All promises and privileges are now made known to the sinner at the same time that his duty to repent be- comes known, and the mental steps can be taken as rapidly as the mind can operate. But with Abraham, the promise which called forth the trust that was counted for righteousness was not uttered until many years after his self-surrender.* Thus, two mental *A question emerges here which we may be able to answer onl}' conjecturally: Was the faith which Abraham had before this time so far insufficient that he remained during all these j-ears unpardoned? Repentance toward God issues in loyalty to God, and that Abraham possessed this loyalty and had also surrender- ed himself to the divine guidance and care is unquestionable. He had also had a trust in God which had been the shaping principle of his life. Did he, after all this, remain unpardoned? On this the Scriptures do not speak, but we have the following facts: 1. Abraham enjoyed God's approval (Gen. xv. 1). 2. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of this early faith of Abraham as a distinguished example of heroic faith (Heb. xi. 8 215 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM steps which are taken so closely together as to be practically one in Christian conversion are separated by many years with Abraham. This will always be the case if the conditions of their being taken are separated by a period of time, instead of all being presented to the mind at once. Abraham's advance was through many years in a slowlj" growing light, while the gospel is a single sunburst of duty and priv- ilege. It is important that we take good note of this, for we shall find other things in long perspective in the life of Abraham, and from a similar cause. We are now prepared to consider another fact. 5. The mental act of trust which constituted the faith that was counted to Abraham for righteousness did not have any external embodiment. In Christian sg^. 3. According to James, Abraham's faith was counted for right- eousness, at least once after this time (Jas. ii. 21-23); so that it would seem that this was an act that was not self-excluding, and could take place more than once. If the counting of Abraham's faith for righteousness in Gen. xv. did not exclude its being so counted agarin at the time of the offering of Isaac, why should it exclude the possibility of an earlier counting? In view of these considerations I do not see that we are warranted in deciding that Abraham was not justified before the occurrence in Gen. xv., but in the silence of the vScriptures I should not desire to make any affirmation on that point. There are no more certain evi- dences of a loyal and committed life after this time than there v.^ere before, and we can see no good reason why justification should have been withheld. If we are to give weight to what James says, we must under- stand the justification to be an act that can be repeated, and the following explanation may not be far from the truth. Abraham had been justified before, but at this time (Gen. xv.) his faith rose to so high a degree of heroic trust that God honored it with a new mark of approval, pronouncing him right- eous in a still higher degree than he had done before, and when his faith rose to a new height, both as loyalty and trust, in the offering of Isaac, God again pronounced him righteous in a still higher degree. Thus these justifications would be intensive rather than absolute or primary. Some such explanation would seem necessary from the fact that these justifications admit of repetition. 216 ABRAHAM S FAITH conversion we have seen that there are important reasons why this mental act should take place in baptism, and have noted the fact — which we shall show at greater length later — that the Scriptures place it there. But we find no such act as an embodi- ment of Abraham's faith at this time, and the justifi- cation takes place without waiting for any such con- dition. How shall we explain this? Does not this negative all that we have said on this subject? and does it not seem to stand in conflict with any view that would make baptism a condition of the remission of sins? Does not the difficulty lie even deeper than this? Have we not shown that baptism as a condition of remission of sins is not a mere arbitrary appoint- ment, but that it has its reason in the demands of moral and spiritual law — demands which must be sup- posed to affect the case of Abraham as certainly as that of Christian conversion? Is not Abraham's case regarded by Paul as a type of Christian conversion? and if Abraham can be justified in view of a simple mental act apart from any such step, why cannot othei's? Do we not search the record in vain for any such act as Christian baptism either taking place as an investiture of this mental act or forming a condition of Abraham's justification? Is it not clear, then, that no such act can be necessary to justification? Before drawing this conclusion let us be sure that our reas- oning does not prove too much. It is true that we find no baptism in the record given of this faith in Gen. XV., but it is also true that we find no repent- ance and no self-surrender there. The narrative is a very simple statement of fact. God had been speak- ing approvingly to Abraham. Abraham tells him of his great disappointment and God then promises him 217 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM issue from his own body. Abraham believes God, and it is counted to him for righteousness. There is no sign of repentance or self-surrender here, and Paul finds none in his interpretation of the case in Rom. iv. Shall we, then, conclude that repentance and self- surrender are not necessary to justification, and rule out not only baptism, but the moral element of faith? If we are to depend on the bare statement of this narrative we must do so. But such a method would be a grave misinterpretation of Abraham's spiritual history. The truth is, that Abraham had repented and become loyal to God long before, and had com- mitted his life to God's keeping; and this act of trust springs out of a loyal heart and a conmiitted life. This trust was, therefore, loyal trust; this faith was moral faith. And, while it is true that all these elements of Abraham's spiritual character may have risen with this sublime trust to a higher level, they did not have their origin here, but arose long before. If we must step outside of this narrative into the unwritten history of Abraham's past to find his re- pentance and self-surrender, why is it not admissible to seek something else there? But we must not do this simply for the sake of esca})ing a difficulty. If we are to place anything else in Abraham's past there must be a good reason for it. Now, as we begin to look at this question on its merits we find ourselves face to face with a surprising fact. When we were examining th^ conditions of Christian conversion we found weighty moral and spiritual reasons why an act of profession like baptism should form an investiture of justifying faith and be a condition of remission of sins. When we look at Abraham's faith on this occasion we find not one of these reasons applicable. 218 ABRAHAM S FAITH There was no moral reason why he should make a profession at this time, and there was no spiritual reason why his faith should take place in an act like baptism. It was simply the belief of a great promise; and as we look about us we do not find that the belief of promises usually calls for physical investiture. There was no reason why anything like baptism should take place at this point in Abraham's spiritual history; and, if there is as little reason for it in Chris- tian conversion, it is certainly out of place. Now, let us ask: Was there any point in Abraham's spiritual history where an act corresponding to baptism loas demanded? When Abraham was worshiping his ancestral gods, the whole weight of his influence was in their favor, and thus against the true God. When he ceased to worship these gods and began to worship the true God, if this were done secretly, the whole weight of his influence would still be unchanged and lie in favor of the old gods. The voice of his life would be against God; and this would be a moral wrong. Hence moral law would demand that he make a profession at pre- cisely that time when he entered upon the service of the true God. But that was the time when he gave himself up to God. To have placed profession after that time would have been to prolong an old wrong. Thus, profession was morally demanded at the time of Abraham's self-surrender. This great mental step was of precisely the nature that in all ages has called for external embodiment. It was a divine- human greet- ing, and it was the entrance into a new relation. Such acts have in all ages called for physical embodiment. The handshake, the kiss of greeting, the affectionate embrace, etc., fulfill the purpose in ordinary social 219 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM life; while marriage, naturalization, etc., supply the need in the more weighty matters of entering into a new relation. And, with all the force that these are needed, Abraham needed such an act at that time. Moral and spiritual laws therefore demanded that some act of the nature of Christian baptism should take place at precisely the time of Abraham's self- surrender, and form the embodiment of that spirit- ual act. Some such act did take place at that time, or moral law was violated and spiritual instincts were defrauded of their just due. This fact explains com- pletely why no such act should be found at the time of Abraham's simple act of trust spoken of in Gen. XV. It would be out of place there; it was demanded here, and we know of no reason to doubt that some such act really took place at this point. So far all is clear; but how will this explain why baptism should be the physical embodiment of the faith that is reck- oned for righteousness, when it certainly was not so with Abraham? Just this way: Abraham's self -sur- render and this faith were separated by many years, and the act of profession must, according to its nature, cling to the surrender; but the self-surrender and the possessive trust come together in Christian conversion and take place as practically one act, so that when baptism, according to the demands of moral and spiritual law, forms an investiture of the self -surrender, it embraces the new-born trust also. As the beginning of the possessive trust of the Chris- tian life, baptism is not demanded; as an investiture of the soul's self-surrender, it is. Thus, the shorten- ing of the perspective in Christian conversion, bring- ing two spiritual steps together, explains completely this seeming discrepancy. The day should l)e past for 220 ABRAHAM S FAITH fanciful interpretations of Scripture. It is our duty to view isolated facts in the light of spiritual kistoiy, and when we do so, no far-fetched efforts are needed to explain away difficulties, for they vanish of them- selves. This brings us to another question. 6. Some fourteen years later, Abraham received a command that he, his boy Ishmael, and all his male servants should be circumcised. What w^as the pur- pose of this? It has been held by some that this cir- cumcision occupied the place and fulfilled the office that baptism now fills in the Christian economy. As the Scriptures nowhere say this, it is inferred from a supposed similarity of position and office. Is this correct? We have seen that there was a time in Abraham's unwritten history when an act correspond- ing to baptism as an act of profession was demanded. That time was when, having determined to serve God, he surrendered himself to God and entered upon his service. If Abraham did this, he did what he should do; if not, he violated a moral law. In the apos- tolic age, when men reached this point in their spirit- ual history, the apostles baptized them, and they never did so at any other time. Whatever took the place of baptism with Abraham was called for at that time, and no other. We may go further and say that Abraham did take some such step at or near that time. We know this because we find him in after life living before others as a professed worshiper of God. There was a time when he began to do this, and some act by which he did it. By some means he made a profession and entered upon the new life. Was the means chosen well fitted to the purpose? We do not know. Whether well or ill, it served the purpose, and that thing was done which it is now the office of 221 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM baptism to accomplish. This act, whatever it was, occupied the phice of baptism. If it came at the precise time of Abraham's surrender to God, well; if it came after that time, a moral law was violated. What it concerns us to know is, that he did it. Now baptism, because of the position it occupies and the service it performs, is not subject to repetition. As a child can never reach the age of twelve but once, so the spiritual history of any man can never reach the period of baptism but once. Any act which stands in the place of baptism and serves its purpose, can never, therefore, be required but once. The thing it was designed to do, has been done once for all. As Abraham had taken this step, there never occurred in his after life a demand for such a step again, and no act which he might perform could be in the place of baptism. To take a different view is to bring confusion into this entire spiritual history. The place of baptism is fixed by moral and spiritual laws, and ten thousand years hence such an act will be demanded at precisely this point of spiritual his- tory. Thousands of years ago it was so. As long as man is man and God is God, it will be so. An act like baptism will be demanded at just this point and nowhere else. If this be true, circumcision could not occupy the place now occupied by Christian baptism. But circumcision is called "a seal" of Abraham's "righteousness of faith" (Rom. iv. 11), and is not baptism a seal of the Christian's faith? The Scrip- tures now^here speak of it as a seal of anything, and it does not possess the nature of a seal. It is a sign of something, but a sign and a seal are not the same. A seal is by its nature an abiding mark^ and a mo- 222 ABRAHAM S FAITH ^ mentary act is not such a mark.* If an act of pro- fession can be a seal, Abraham already had that seal before his circumcision, since he had, in some way, made a profession. But circumcision was an abiding marh of a nature that no act can be. There is, how- ever, something in the history of Christian conversion that is called a seal, and conforms to the nature of a seal in that it is both a sign and an abiding mark. This is the Holy Spirit placed in the heart (Eph. i. 13; iv. 30) of the convert. It is an evidence of son- ship (Gal. iv. 6) as long as it abides, and its absence is an evidence that the professor is no longer Christ's (Rom. viii. 9). The Holy Spirit is bestowed either after baptism or in it. It took place in Christ's bap- tism immediately after the physical act, and so closely as to form part of one transaction. In either case, the physical act of baptism could not possibly stand in the place of circumcision, though something re- ceived in connection with it might. If it be asked whether this close association does not lend some color to the contention that baptism comes in place of circumcision, I answer, not to the truth-seeker. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not baptism. Propin- quity may help an unscrupulous disputant to confuse distinctions, but the truth is not for such. But this leads us to ask another question: AYhat do we mean by the Holy Spirit's coming in the place of circumcision? Is it meant that when Christianity was originated in the mind of its Founder, he placed anything in it to satisfy the fancy of having some- thing answering to circumcision; or that when God ♦The Standard Dictionary places acts among the definitions of a seal, but it does so only on the authority of those theolo- gians who claim that baptism is a seal. 223 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM instituted circumcision, he did so for the purpose of having something to prefigure the gift of the Holy Spirit, or that the nature of the rite was modified with any such view? There is no ground for any such supposition. The Holy Spirit is given to the Chris- tian convert because he needs it, and for no other reason, without any regard to the fact that any such thing as circumcision ever existed. Circumcision served as a seal; it chances that the much-needed Holy Spirit serves as a seal — that is all. There is no more reason for saying that the Holy Spirit comes in phice of circumcision, than there is for saying that the seal on the deed of a piece of land comes in place of circumcision. They both act as seals, and in that resemble each other; nothing more. The gift of the Holy Spirit, baptism, and everything else is in Christianity because it is needed, and for no other reason. Circumcision was for the purpose of mark- ing off a people in whom the prouiise to Abraham should be fulfilled. Abraham was chosen, to be the father of this favored people because of his distin- guishing faith. The establishment of this rite was, therefore, indirectly a compliment— a mark of ap- proval— to his faith; and as it was an abiding mark, it could fitly be called a "seal of his righteousness of faith." But he did not specially need it any more than any other man needs an expression of approval. Had h^ needed it, the need would have existed sooner than fourteen years after the faith to which it re- ferred took place. The need of circumcision came when the boy was about to be born through whom that seed should come, and it was then instituted. Its relation to Abraham's faith was incidental, though it was on that account no less real. 224 ABRAHAM S FAITH We should not dismiss this head without noticing a passage in Colossians (ch. ii. 10-13) in which circum- cision is spoken of in connection with baptism. It reads: '*And in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power; in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he quicken together with him, having for- given us all our trespasses," etc. Paul had continually to contend with Judaizers, who claimed that his converts should be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. How should he meet them? Had there been any rite in Christianity which occupied the place which was occupied by circum- cision in the old dispensation, Paul could have at once pointed to it and shown that it fulfilled the pur- pose of circumcision; but there being no such rite, he seizes upon a symbolical interpretation of circum- cision founded in the character of the act as a cutting off, and declares that it is fulfilled in the putting off of the body of sin in conversion. In Rom. ii. 28,29 he declares that true circumcision is not physical, but spiritual: *'For he is not a Jew which is one out- wardly; neither is that circumcision which is out- ward in the flesh : but he is a Jew which is one in- wardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter" ; and in this passage (Col. ii. 11) he declares that it is made without hands, thus excluding the possibility of making physical baptism 15 225 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM the Christian representative of circumcision. But he immediately speaks of baptism as though that were the act in which the spiritual putting away of the old life takes place; and in Kom. vi. 2,3, he definitely locates death to sin, or this severance from the old life, in baptism. Does this not, then, make baptism the representative of circumcision? Not the physical act. It does make a spiritual act which takes place in baptism such representative, but distinctly ex- cludes the physical act from any such place by declar- ing that that which stands for circumcision is done without hands. Physical baptism is the investiture of a spiritual act symbolized by circumcision. But cir- cumcision occupied no such place either with Abra- ham or his seed. It was to neither the investiture of the spiritual act of "putting off" sin. With Abraham it came many years after his justification, and with his posterity it was performed in infancy many years before such a spiritual act was possible. Circum- cision did not serve the purpose nor occupy the place of baptism in the spiritual history of the subjects. They are different acts performed on different sub- jects for different purposes. Baptism stands in place of that act in Abraham's unwritten history in which he made a profession when he entered upon the ser- vice of the living God, and in place of no other. ^2. Differences between Abraham's Faith and Christian Faith. We have thus far considered Abraham's faith only in its correspondences with Christian faith, but it would not be true to say that there are no differences. Let us briefly notice some of these. 1. Christian faith differs from Abraham's faith in its objective content. The object of Abraham's faith 226 ABRAHAM S FAITH was the true and living God and, specifically, such promises as God made to him. Christian faith em- braces all these and more. It is faith not only in God but in Christ as his more perfect manifestation. It includes, therefore, personal trust in Christ as God's son and involves an acceptance of the chief evidences of his sonship, such as his resurrection, etc. Speci- fically, it embraces the promises that are in Christ Jesus. 2. The work of Christ has effected a profound change in the nature of faith itself. The life of Christ has been to the world a spiritual contagion; and this new vision that came into its history has been the most wonderful thing that has happened to mankind. The cross of Christ has broken the heart of the world. It has been the glad sorrow of nineteen centuries. It has hushed. all rollicking joy, which is of the animal, with a sublimer, deeper passion. The gospel story is higher than heroism and sweeter than mother-love, and it moves the heart with a strange power. Thus it comes to pass that Christian faith is the birth of a new passion. It palpitates with love, and it is through love that it works. In its emotional element Abraham's faith did not reach this height. God's goodness to him was not without its effect, and brought him into an attitude oi friendship with God.* But friendship is a weaker term than love, and Chris- tian love is the highest form of love known to our race. 3. Out of this love grows another fact. Christ's great love could not stop at inviting men to a friendly * Jas. ii. 23. There is no reason to suppose that this friendship was a mere condescension on the part of God. The friendship was mutual, as the history indicates. 227 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM relationship with him, but yearning]}^ called them into the most intimate union — a solidarity of affection which breaks down all lines of separation and brings all into one. Hence his pro:ffer to mankind is that they shall come into union with him, and the faith which accepts this proffer becomes an act of union with Christ. The relation of most men to their deities had been that of subjects to a ruler; Abra- ham's relation transcended this and became that of friendship with a heavenly Friend; but the Christian relation is the sublime miracle of love realized in complete oneness. 4. Accentuating this, and furnishing it complete support, is another thing peculiar to Christianity — the gift of the Holy Spirit. This belongs to the establishment of the higher and closer relationship brought about by Christ, and is the crowning glory of the Christian dispensation. It makes it a "ministra- tion of the spirit," and this is its distinguishing feat- ure. These are very great di:fferences, and the question at once arises how this will affect the validity of Paul's argument. The fact that Abraham was justi- fied by faith would furnish no evidence that a faith lacking in any of the essential features of Abraham's faith would be counted for righteousness, but it would be excellent evidence that a faith containing all that Abraham's faith did, and much more, would be ac- cepted. %3. PaiiVs Estimate of this Relation. Before leaving Abraham's faith it will be interesting to inquire how far Paul's view of it accords with what we have found. Our means for doing this are limited, since he nowhere enters into a discussion of the 228 ABRAHAM S FAITH nature of faith, but in his argument in Romans and Galatians i.s simply concerned with showing that justi- fication is by faith rather than by the works of the law. His references to Abraham's faith, however, serve to show us something of his view regarding its nature. We have already seen that he regarded that faith that was said to have been counted for righteousness as being trunt. In speaking of it in Rom. iv. he also recognizes it as strong faith and as involving a belief in the miraculous. That he regarded it as loyal we cannot question when we consider how strongly he insists on loyalty in Christian faith, preaching every- where "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." A further indication of his esti- mate of Abraham's faith is to be found in a difference of terms by which he designates Abraham's faith and that of Christian conversion. Speaking of Christian faith in his letter to the Galatians (ch. ii. 16), he says: *'Yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, save through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on (Trto-reveti/ cis) Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law." Winer defines Trto-reuetv ek with the accusative of the person, as "in faith to resign one's self unto any one, to profess one's self a believer on one, fide se ad aliquem appUcare'^ (in faith to unite one's self to any one).* Thayer's Lexicon defines the phrase as '*^o have faith directed unto^ believing or in faith to give one's self up to Jesus, etc."t *Winer's Gratnmar of New Testament Greek. §31, 5. fThayer's N. T. Greek Lexicon, sub voce. We shall have oc- casion to give this phrase an independent examination further on. Here, however, it will be sufficient to refer to these standard authorities. 229 MOEAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM Both these defiDitions contain the element of sur- render to Christ, and this is the believing which Paul declares to be the condition of justification. We have already quoted Cremer's Lexicon as saying that "with Paul the element of unreserved trust occupies the first place, with the signification 'unreservedly, without demur of word or act, to give one's self up to the God of our salvation.' " Thus Paul understands that the faith of conversion embraces self-surrender, or a giving of one's self up to Christ. But he does not speak of Abraham's faith in any such way. When speaking of the faith that was reckoned unto Abraham for righteousness, he simply says: "And Abraham believed God (Trio-reijeiv Ttvt ) and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness" (Rom. iv. 3). Now, this TTLcrrcveLv TLVL means simply tri(,st. Winer defines it as: ^'credere, con fidere ali qui'' (to trust, to confide in any one).* Thayer's Lexicon gives it as simply, "^o trust . . . God promising a thing." There is nothing in this phrase expressive of self-surrender; it means simply trust, and does not, lil?:e 7rto-T€vetv CIS Ttva, represent an act which embraces both surrender and trust. But what is still more striking is the fact that Paul, in the same connection, designates Abraham's faith and that of the Christian convert by terms expressive of different acts. In Rom. iv. 3 he says: "Abraham believed God (Trto-revW rtn), and it was reckoned unto him for righteous- ness," and then proceeds to say; "Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt. But to him that worketh not, but be- lieveth on him {incTTevuv iirl TLvd) that justifieth the 'Winer's Grammar, §31, 5. 230 ABRAHAM S FAITH ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness." To the phrase Tna-revav iwl TLvd Winer gives the same definition as to Tna-Tevav ets TLvd, and it will be seen, when we come to examine these phrases, that they are but different forms expressive of the same act. Paul, when arguing from Abraham's faith to the faith of conversion, designates them by terms having a differ- ent meaning. He also has occasion to speak of the faith of conversion again in the 24th verse of this same chapter, and designates it by the same term (^ma-evcLv im Ttva), while he refers again to Abraham's faith in Gal. iii. 6, designating it, precisely as he does here, by the phrase mo-reuW rtn ? These different designa- tions occur side by side, and in an argument which would incline Paul to use either the same term or terms having an equivalent meaning, and they can hardly be accidental. It seems plain, therefore, that Paul did not recognize Abraham's faith to which he refers as containing self-surrender, while he certainly did recognize this element in the faith of conversion; and in these respects his language is precisely in accord with what we have discovered regarding both. But this fact has a further significance. We cannot for a moment suppose that Paul would teach that any one could be justified who was not loyal to God; but it is the office of repentance to make one loyal, and repentance necessarily issues in self-surrender. Thus Paul must have recognized that Abraham repented and surrendered himself to God sometime. But he does not find self-surrender in the act of believing which he refers to as having been counted to Abraham for righteousness. Unless Abraham was justified before repentance and self-surrender, therefore, these mental acts must have taken place before that 231 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM time. This is precisely what we have found by an examination of the case. Paul's language is consist- ent with no other view; and we find that, in so far as his language throws light on the question, his view was that advocated in these pages. 232 PART II THE SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE REGARDING THE NATURE OF FAITH AND ITS RELATION TO BAPTISM. CHAPTER I. WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY AND WHERE DOES IT TAKE PLACE? §i. Faith according, to Christ, according to John, and according to Paul. Our argument on the nature of faith and its rela- tion to baptism has thus far been mainly philosophi- cal. We now proceed to examine the Scripture teaching on this subject. First, let us inquire what is the nature of that faith which is made the great condition of Christian salvation. We can best do this by viewing it at its origin. Personal faith in Christ began during Christ's earthly ministry; and no examination of its nature and relationship can be satisfactory which shall fail to view it at that stage of its history. It is there that we not only see it in its beginnings, but find the utterances of Christ himself regarding it; and it was these teachings of the Master which gave to the apostles their conception of faith. Inasmuch, there- fore, as the apostles nowhere give an elaborate definition of faith, these teachings become of the highest importance in enabling us to understand their language on this subject. What faith meant with 233 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM Christ it meant with the apostles, in its specifically Christian sense. Among the terms by which faith is designated, there is one phrase which, by reason both of its limit- ing character and of its frequent use, specially claims our attention. It is Tna-Tevecv eh with an accusative of the person — to "believe o?i" Christ, *'o?i him," "o?i me," etc. It is evident at a glance that, whatever may be the meaning of this phrase, it applies to personal faith. The action of the verb "believe" terminates on a perso7i, not on simple facts or truths. The phrase is a designation of personal faith in Christ. It is used a great number of times in the New Testament, and by different writers. It is found more than thirty times in the Gospel of John, and is used also by Peter (Acts x. 43), by Paul (Acts xix- 4 and Gal. ii. 16), and often by Christ himself; or, at least, its equivalent in the vernacular in which he spoke. It was the familiar form for designating personal faith in Christ.* What, then, is the sense in which this phrase was used in this early stage of its history? Christ says in John vi. 35: "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on (et?) me shall never thirst." We have here, of course, a case of parallelism, and, according to Winer, of synonymous parallelism, in which the two parallel clauses express the same thought in *Buttmann, having said that pis feuein was often used in a decid- edly different sense after the introduction of the new religion, from that which it formerly bore, proceeds to say regarding the phrase pisteicein eis tina^ that "the word \_pisteuein'\ in this new sense, when connected with nouns, gradually settled upon this construction." — Grammar of New Testament Greek. See pp. 173, 174. This, therefore, was the common designation of this personal faith. 234 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH different language. If we examine the last term of each clause, we shall readily see that this is so. The "hunger" and the ^'thirst" are but different figures expressive of the want of spiritual nourishment; and this points to a similar relation of the two first terms. As hunger and thirst are but different ways of ex- pressing the same thing, so coming to Christ and believing on him are but different descriptions of the same act. What is involved in coming to Christ he himself informs us in another place. In Luke xiv. 26, he says: *'If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own* father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." There can be no acceptable coming to Christ which does not involve all this — the most complete self-surrender and devote- ment to him. This, then, is implied in the act of believing on him. But the passage in John vi. 35, has other infor- mation for us. The first clause of the couplet de- clares that "he that cometh to me [Jesus] shall not hunger." When a man is hungry, what does he do that he may cease to be hungry? He eats. Eating, therefore, implied in this physical comparison, cor- responds to coming to Christ. Coming to Christ accomplishes spiritually what eating accomplishes in the physical sense. The same is true of believing on Christ and the slaking of thirst; for it is said, "He that believeth on me shall never thirst." What drinking is to the thirsty, that believing on Jesus is said to be to the spiritually famished. If it be ques- tioned whether coming to Christ can strictly be held to represent eating, and believing on him, drinking, it is most certain that the statements "shall not 235 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM hunger" and "shall never thirst" can mean no less than that the man who comes to Christ, or believes on him, comes into possession of the food supply, so that he may partake of it at will. But this is appro- jyriafion. And if coming to Christ and believing on him do correspond respectively to eating and drink- ing, the other meaning will still not be excluded; for be it observed that the second clause reads: "He that believeth on me shall never thirst." The attain- ment, therefore, is not simply a single slaking of thirst, but a coming into possession of the boundless stores of the divine grace. It is, in short, the appro- priation of the blessings of salvation. The language teaches that he who believes on Jesus thereby comes into possession of these blessings. The passage has still other light for us; for, what is this bread that is spiritually eaten by those coming to or believing on Jesus? Christ says in the same verse, "I am the bread of life." To come to Christ, or believe "on him, therefore, is to appropriate him as our source of life — to come into a vital relation to him. Jesus then proceeds to elaborate this thought much further, during which he says (v. 57), "He that eateth me he also shall live because of me." This faith, therefore, is an appropriation of Christ. In verse 47, referring to this same faith, he says, "He that believeth hath eternal life." The appropriation is, therefore, also an appropriation of life. Jesus' language was misunderstood and caused many of his disciples to stumble. He therefore ex- plains his meaning as not referring to the eating of his flesh, and says, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing;" and then proceeds to sav, "the words that I have spoken unto you are 236 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH spirit, and are life"* What does this mean? Are we to understand that all Jesus has meant by these strong representations of eating him, etc., was the simple act of believing his words to be true? Has the mountain labored and brought forth a mouse? Such a view would empty all these intensely personal representations of their meaning; nor is it true that such a believing would be a coming to Christ, for men may believe Christ's words without coming to him. If, however, the eating of Christ's words embraces all that the hearty acceptance of them implies, it means all that I have claimed for faith. There are no stronger representations of personal appropriation and vital connection with Christ in the New Testa- ment, than are found in the language of this chapter. The faith is personal faith, not the mere belief of words, and the appropriation is an appropriation of Christ and his salvation. To believe on Jesus is, never to thirst; it is to come into possession of the source of all spiritual blessings. Passing to another passage (Jn. iii. 36), we read: *'He that believeth on [ets] the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Here believ- ing on Jesus is placed in antithesis to not obeying him. To believe on him is the opposite of dis- obedience. A moment's reflection must make it clear that believing on the Son here is made to em- brace obedience, surrender. Did it not do so, the statement would be untrue. If the believing em- braced anything less than obedience, it would not *It is well to note that, according to the Revised Version, the **spirit" here spoken of, is not the Holy Spirit, the word "spirit" is not capitalized. 237 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM bring life, since the second statement informs us that the lack of obedience Avill cut off from life, and expose to the wrath of God. In Jn. i. 11, 12, we have this language: "He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name." Here, receiving Christ and believing on his name are used as different desig- nations of the same act. To believe on (ets) Christ is to receive him, and thus faith becomes appropriative. But does not the fact that those who believe on him si m ply have the right to become children of God_ indicate that still another step (or other steps) is. to be taken before such sonship can be gained? It would be so if becoming a child ot God w^ere wholly the act of the convert. But such is not the case. The act of becoming sons, or children, of God has its divine paijt, which is well represented by Paul as an ''adoption," and is wholly a divine act, performed after the candidate has complied with the condition which entitles him to it.* The word used by John *This conception is not foreign to John's thought, although he does not use the word adoption. In 1 Tn. iii. l.he says: *'Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God." This is what is done in adoption — admission to the rank and privileges of children. The right or privilege to receive this high distinction is doubt- less what John refers to in the words under consideration. It should be rememherprl thnj- noilhpr fnith, nor any other act on man's part can of itself put him in possession of salvafi'^n, pr jn^^- 'tiiication. or divine sonship. Tliese are acts which are performed by God himselj, All we can do is to comply with certain condi- tions, in view of which God grants these blessings. So far as our agency is concerned, faith appropriates and puts us in possession of these blessings; l^ut it is only as God meets us in the act, and confers the blessing. All that we can do only entities us to receive the favor. John elsewhere speaks of faith as appropria- tive and possessive, and this statement differs from the others 238 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH in this passage means to become, to he made children of God, not to make themselves children of God by some further act. This faith admits the believer to adoption. Of course, this faith, this appropriative spiritual act, must take place under the divinely appointed conditions. What these are, will appear later. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is to perform the human spiritual part in becoming a child of God. It may be well to remark in passing, that this phrase — TTLorTeveiv CIS rtm — has two derivative senses, growing out of the one already indicated. In Mt. xviii. 6 Christ says: "But whoso shall cause one of these little ones which believe on [ets] me to stumble it were profitable for him," etc. Here believing on Jesus does not refer to the act of coming to him, of surrendering to him, of receiving him, etc., but to the continuance oi the loyalty and trust, or adherence, which began in that act. It is the prolongation of the original act into the succeeding life. This is a per- fectly natural modification of the meaning of the phrase, and can cause no confusion, since it cannot possibly be applied to conversion. An example of the other derivative use of this phrase will be found in Jn. ii. 11. The historian says: "This beginning of signs did Jesus in Cana of only in recognizing the divine agency which is always present, and without which neither faith nor anything else could be appropriative. Prof. Geo. B. Stevens says, regarding this passage: "But the word exousia here is best taken, not as referring to a mere future possibility which faith opens, but as emphasizing the loftiness of the privilege of becoming sons of God which is accorded to believers." And again: "Faith, therefore, does not merely make sonshiptoGod possible; it is the actual entrance into, the relation of sonship so far as man has to do with constituting that rela- tion."— Johannine Theology^ pp. 251, 252. MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed on him." Here it is declared that those who had already believed on Jesus, or become his disciples, again believed on him. We have here what may be called an inte^isive meaning, which in the nature of the case cannot embrace all that was involved in the first act. These disciples did not come to him, and did not receive him, in this second act, because in the nature of the case these steps could not be repeated; but this believing on him implied all that had pre- ceded, and further deepened its meaning. The situa- tion calling for this use of the phrase was peculiar, and grew out of an exceptional condition during Christ's personal niinistry. This ministry was a period of progressive self-disclosure on the part of Jesus. It was a rising of the sun, with its early fore- gleams, its subsequent appearance above the horizon, its struggle through obscuring clouds, and, at last, its resplendent shining in the heavens. Not until the sixteenth chapter of Matthew do we learn that even his most intimate disciples believed in his divinity and Messiahship. Those who accepted him in one charac- ter might soon be called upon to acknowledge him in a higher. Thus, the disciples who had previously believed on him were led to believe on him in a higher sense when they witnessed the miracle at Cana. Not until Jesus' exaltation to heaven could faith reach its highest content, and accredit him for all that he was. This derivative use of the phrase is also perfectly natural, and can occasion no confusion, since it can- not apply to those who have never before believed on Jesus. It may be added that there is also a lower or partial sense in which this phrase is sometimes used. This 240 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH tendency runs throughout hinguage. Even such words as round, straight, true, perfect, are often used below their absolute sense, and may therefore take degrees of comparison, such as rounder, straighter, truer, more perfect. When we desire to speak of some object, act, or quality which possesses some of the elements of another object, or possesses its qualities in some degree, poverty of language often constraius us to use the name of that object or quality to express our thought. This lower use of a term does not destroy its higher meaning, and the context must determine which meaning is intended in any particu- lar case. Such a use of the phrase Trto-re^'eiv ets is found in Jn. xii. 42: * 'Nevertheless even of the rulers many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God." They credited Jesus' claims and, no doubt, were in sympathy with him, but they did not come to him, obey him, nor i^eceive him. They did not believe on him in an acceptable sense, for their course is spoken of with disapproval. Their faith fell short of the essential element of self -sur- render. It did not, like the believing on him spoken of in Jn. iii. 36, put them in possession of eternal life. In the light of this examination it appears that the phrase to believe on {Tna-rcvetv eU) Christ, represents the spiritual act of coming to him, receiving hiui, submitting to or obeying him. It embraces self-sur- render, acceptance, trust. We may go further and say that, since it is the act of acceptably coming to him and receiving him, all the spiritual characteristics which Christ attaches to the condition of divine ac- ceptance, throughout his entire teaching, are but 16 241 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM features of this faith. It has within it all that the heart must contain when it comes to God, and it is the act of laying all this on his altar. With these findings the best modern schohirship is in full accord. According to Thayer's JST. T. Lexicon, faith in Christ includes '^obedience to Christ"; according to Cremer, it includes "a self-surrendering fellowship [adhesion]"; while Winer defines it as in- cluding, "in faith to resign one's self unto'' Christ, and, "bo unite one's self to" him (^^fide se ad aliquem applicare''^. Thayer's Lexicon also defines the phrase Tna-Tcveiv et? tov 'Irjaovv as, "^0 havc a faith directed tmto, believing or in faith to give one's self up to Jesus." Prof. Stevens, after referring to the passages above considered, concludes: "It is impossible that such functions and effects should be ascribed to any faith which is not in its very nature a trustful surrender of the soul to Christ, a self-renouncing acceptance of his person, and an entrance into life-fellowship with him."* Such is the meaning of faith as described by the most characteristic phrase representing it in the apos- tolic age. It is an appropriation of Christ and his salvation; it is obedience, or surrender to him; it is the spiritual act of entering into union with him. In describing the faith that justifies, Paul uses this phrase. Did he use it in a similar sense? In Gal. ii. 16 he says: "Yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, save through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on [ets] Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ." And then he says in the next verse: "But if , while *T/ieJo/ian?iine Theology^ p. 233. 242 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH we sought to be justified in Christ," etc. When these persons "believed on Christ Jesus" that they "might be justified by faith in Christ," they "sought to be justified in Christ." To believe on (et?) Christ, there- fore, is to enter into him.* It is the spiritual act of union with Christ. In Phil. iii. 8, 9 Paul says: "I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteous- ness of mine own, even that which is of the law; but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteous- ness which is of God by faith." This righteousness of God (cK, from, 'which comes from God"t) by faith (cTTt, upon faith, upon our believing on Christ) is God's accounting us righteous in view of our faith,! and is equivalent to justification. And this righteousness (justification) through faith is spoken of as being equivalent to being "found in him" (Christ). To have this righteousness is to be in Christ. This faith is the act which places us in that relation. In Gal. ii. 20 Paul says: "I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me; and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God." Paul still lives after his crucifixion *Commenting on this passage, EUicott says: "In the formula pisteuein eis with ace— less usual in St. Paul, but very common in St. John— the preposition retains its proper force [/;//c;], and marks not the mere direction of the belief (or object towards which), but the moFe strictly theological ideas of union and incorporation e^////."— Ellicott's Commentary on Galatians, in loc. Thus, while it may not be good English, the thought is that of believing i-aro Christ. t "i\iQ.yQv's Lexicon y sub dikaiosunee. X Ibid. 243 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM with Christ, but it is no longer the old self-life, but Christ living in him, and his life is now a life in faith, faith in the Son of God. To live in faith, then, is to have Christ live in us; and thus faith puts u-s into union with Christ. Perhaps we may add also the statement of II. Cor. V. 21, where Paul speaks of those who are being reconciled to God as becoming the "righteousness [justified ones*] of God in him" (Christ), thus placing justification in Christ, into whom faith must bring us in order to reach it. Paul's teachings therefore accord with those in John in making the faith of salvation an act of appro- priation and union with Christ. We have in these descriptions of faith a mental act of that class which in all ages has been wont to take place in some external act of expression. It is a social act. Surrender to another and entrance into union with another are necessarily social. It is a divine-human greeting under conditions involving the most intense feeling. At such times the heart must break silence, and scorns even words. It is the prodigal's self-surrender. There should be 'the em- brace and kiss of absolution and other acts of rein- statement. If there had been no outstretched arms, the prodigal would have fallen on his knees, or pros- trated himself on the ground. The heart must have its own. If there be strong feeling, there will be a desire for some act at this point in conversion. An act appointed by the Redeemer would be more precious to the heart than any which the convert might himself select. Christ has appointed such an *Thayer's N. T. Lexicon, sub voce'. 244 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH act — baptism. It fulfills purposes of even wider im- portance. Kneeling in the closet does not stop a sin which is still being perpetuated against the Redeemer; profession does stop it. It also measures the faith that is being offered for acceptance that the heart may know that it is sufficient. This faith is not only an act of self-surrender, but also the mental act of union with Christ; it is the soul's marriage to the Eedeemer. The mental act of giving and taking in marriage has its investiture. There are gravest reasons why it should be so. This faith should also have investiture. And we shall see that it has. %2. Paid Places this Spiritual Act in Baptism. Paul's doctrine of justification by faith was liable to misapprehension. To teach that a man might be jus- tified by faith without the works of the law would seem to weaken the sanctions of law; and to claim, as Paul did, that man's sin had caused a wonderful manifestation of divine grace, so that "where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly," would seem to put a premium on sin, and raise the question. Why not "continue in sin that grace may abound"? Paul's true answer to this would be, "Because there are elements in this faith that put such a course out of the question." Paul docs make this answer, but he affirms all this of the spiritual element in baptism. He represents baptism as embracing a two-sided spiritual transaction — human and divine; and finds in the nature of this a conclusive reason against continuance in sin. This transaction on its human side is faith; on its divine side absolution, and the divine indwelling; in its combined aspect, union with Christ. He undertakes to show his readers, in Rom. vi, 245 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM that they have '*died to sin," and he deduces this from the fact that they have been baptized into Christ. "Or are ye ignorant that all who were bap- tized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" (v. 3). In V. 5 he says, "For if we have become united with him by the likeness of his death, we shall be also by the likeness of his resurrection." Thus men are said to enter "into Christ" and to be "united with him" in baptism. But being in Christ is a spiritual relation, and cannot be reached by any merely physical act. There must be in baptism, therefore, the spiritual act of entering into union with Christ. But this is faith. But Paul declares that in entering into union with Christ his readers had "died to sin," and he accord- ingly places this in baptism also. In v. 2 he says: "We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?" and then says (v. 3), "Or are ye ignorant that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized in his death?" The language of v. 2 is not "we who have died,^' but "we who died.'' The aorist tense points to an event occurring at some definite time, and v. 3 fixes that time as at baptism. Now, what is meant by dying to sin? The phrase is a metaphor expressive of separation from sin, or as complete severance from it as possible. When did this take place? Some may say, in repentance; but was this Paul's idea? In repentance there is a cessa- tion of the love of sin and a purpose not to continue its practice; but this is not death to sin, with Paul. He connects death to sin with our entering into union with Christ (v. 3) ; but we enter into union with Christ not by repentance, but by faith. In chapter vii. Paul describes the case of a man who is intensely 246 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH loyal to right and striving to do it with an earnestness that makes the struggle tragic, but fails; and then the cry goes up, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?" The answer is, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." It is the work of repentance to make the heart loj^al to right, and the case here described has that loyalty in a very high degree, yet sin still has the mastery. There is no severance from it. Severance comes through some kind of connection with Christ. It is not Paul's idea that death to sin comes through repentance, but through union with Christ. Repent- ance is certainly a condition of its taking place, but the case is too serious to be disposed of in that way. Paul's image is that of a dead body, which, though loathed, as sin may come to be in repentance, cannot be escaped from. There can be no' severance from the power of sin without help. This help comes through union with Christ; and there can be no breaking with sin, or death to it, worthy of the name that falls short of laying hold on that Power through which alone rescue can come. But this is faith. The penitent dies to sin when he enters into Christ. Paul's whole theology hinges on the fact that the penitent must have help, or he is lost. For this reason he must also unite with Christ's other self, the church, the other great saving power of Chris- tianity. In his connection with these forces lies his salvation. He unites with these in baptism; and if the case be as serious as Paul represents it, nothing short of this can constitute death to sin. There is another reason why death to sin cannot be said to take place in repentance. Many forms of sin have a self-perpetuating character, and one of these 247 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM forms, ever present, can only be terminated by pro- fession. As there can be no severance from sin while we are perpetuating it, profession becomes one of the elements in death to sin ; and as baptism is the great act of Christian profession, death to sin is not con- summated before it. Thus far Paul has spoken of baptism as containing a spiritual element which answers to the act of believ- ing on (or into) Christ, both as defined by Christ himself, and, as understood by Paul.* In v. 7 he takes another step. Vv. 6 and 7 read: "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin ; for he that hath died is justified from sin." Thus, not only death to sin, but justification also, is placed in baptism. Paul's argument, therefore, is, that in baptism his readers entered into union with Christ (faith), that in this act they died to sin, and that, having died to sin, they were also justified from sin. Thus he places both faith and justification in baptism. The same thought appears under another form in v. 3, where those who are "baptized into Christ" are said to be "baptized into his death," where they come into con- tact with the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin. Speaking of this passage, Prof. Sanday says: "The sprinkling of the blood of Christ seals that * Neaiider says: ''Faith is the spiritual act by virtue of which, in surrendering ourselves to him who died for us, we die to a life of sin, to the world, to ourselves, to all which we were before, and rise again in his fellowship, in the power of his Spirit, to a new life devoted to him and animated by him." — PlafUifig and Training, Bohn ed. i. p. 459; Am. ed. p. 419. 248 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH covenant with His people to which baptism admits them."* Thus Paul in most positive language places union with Christ, death to sin, and justification in baptism. Does he literally mean this, or is he speaking figura- tively of spiritual events which have really preceded baptism, but are formally represented by it? There are no intimations of any such course, and there is nothing in the nature of these spiritual acts which could prevent their taking place in baptism. In a word, there are no reasons for supposing that his very positive language means anything else than what it says. To interpret language figuratively without reason, is in effect to cancel all literature. There are, on the other hand, important reasons, moral, practical, and spiritual, why these spiritual acts should take place in a physical act like baptism. Prof. Sanday paraphrases the first part of Paul's language in this chapter, thus: "Surely you do not need reminding that all of us who were immersed or baptized, as our Christian phrase runs, *into Christ,' i. e., into the closest allegiance and adhesion to him, were immersed or baptized into a special relation to his death. I mean that the Christian, at his baptism, not only professes obedience to Christ, but enters into a relation to him so intimate that it may be de- scribed as an actual union, "t etc. Commenting on this language later, he speaks of "the mystical union of the Christian with Christ, dating from his bap- tism."! He also places being crucified with Christ in baptism ;§ and further on says: "In baptism the * International Critical Commentary on Romans, p. 155. t Ibid., p. 154. X Ibid., p. 156. § Ibid., p. 158. 249 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM Christian died to his old self, to all that he had been, whether Jew or Gentile, before he became a Chris- tian.* But there is other evidence on this subject of a more positive character. We have seen from chapter vii. that, however earnest the effort, it is impossible for us to overcome sin by ourselves, and that release from its power can come only through Christ. We are also taught in this sixth chapter that in order to this end we must stand in a certain relation to Christ, known as being in him, or vitally united to him; but we have not yet learned what there is in this relation to make it potent to such a result. What, then, is involved in being in Christ? What does it mean to be in him? Christ has spoken of this relation as a mutual in- dwelling— we in him and he in us — and declared that apart from it we '*can do nothing" (Jn. xv. 5 ). The nature of the relation he has illustrated by the vital connection between the branch and the vine, so that the branch lives in the vine. A similar relation is sustained by a limb or any part of the human body to the body itself. It is filled by the spirit or animat- ing principle of the body, and is able to resist, as long as the body lives, the influences that would speedily produce putrefaction, were it not vitalized by this principle. A further application may be seen in the food that we eat, which, after undergoing a process of digestion, passes into the current of the blood and is borne to those parts needing repair, where, taking its place as part of the tissues of the body, it instantly becomes alive — is filled with, or im- * International Critical Commentary on Romans, p. 163. 250 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH mersed in, the spirit which animates the body. If being in Christ involves anything analogous to this, it must certainly be a condition most potent for right- eousness. Does it? Paul answers this question in the eighth chapter of this epistle. After concluding in the seventh chapter that release from the power of sin can be gained only through Christ, he proceeds in the beginning of the eighth to show how this is done. He says (v. 1) : *'There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." What is involved in being in Christ that should cause it to place those who are in him beyond any condemnation? **For the law [power] of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made [not has made] me free from the law [power] of sin and of death." To be in Christ, then, is to be in con- tact with the Spirit of life, whose energizing power breaks the power of sin."^ The apostle is not speaking of a progressive deliverance from the power of sin, but of something which took place at a definite point of time in the past. Those who are in Christ were made free from the power of sin by virtue of being in him and this was accomplished by the Spirit of life.f * Various commentators, including Meyer, connect "in Christ Jesus" in the second verse, with "made me free," with the sense "The Spirit of life made us free as soon as- we entered into com- munion with Christ," but Godet prefers to connect it with "law" (meaning "reign" or "power"). The sense would then be. The reign or power ot the Spirit of life which appertains to being in Christ made me free, etc. Either view gives the thought that being in Chris^t involves contact with the Holy Spirit. t "-Aorist. For it is a historical act, which resulted from the effusion of the Spirit in the heart. The progressive sanctifioa- tion is the further development and consequence of this act." — lAcyer's, Com. in loc. The "progressive sanctitication" to follow is evidence that this freeing from sin was not absolute. It was rather the endowment with power to overcome sin, which in pro- portion to one's faithfulness would be accomplished. Paul there- fore exhorts to such faithfulness (vs. 12, 13). MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM But what is the nature of this contact with the Spirit which is reached by coming into Christ? "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you" (v. 9). To be in Christ is to have the Holy Spirit (called also the Spirit of Christ in the next clause) dwell in us. Verse 10 and part of verse 11 read: "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life be- cause of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you," etc. What is spoken of in verse 10 as Christ's being in us, is spoken of in verse 11 as the Holy Spirit's dwelling in us. Thus, the union described by Christ (Jn. XV.), consisting in our being in him and he in us, is now realized by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Christ's other self abiding in the world, and his indwelling is Christ's indwelling (Jn. xiv. 16-18). Referring again to the statement in verse 9, "But ye aro not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,* if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you," we learn that to be "in the Spirit" and to have the Spirit dwell in us are convertible terms, and that it is essen- tial to our being in the Spirit that the Spirit dwell in us. If so, it must also be essential to our being in Christ that Christ shall dwell in us. But we have just seen from comparing verses 10 and 11, that Christ's being in us, and the Holy Spirit's dwelling in us are but different expressions of the same fact. It follows, therefore, that it is essential to our being in Christ that the Holy Spirit shall dwell in us. So es- sential to our being in Christ is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that if any one does not possess the *Spirit is here written with a capital, both by the A. V. aud by the Americam Committee -of the R. V. 252 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH Spirit, it is declared that he is "none of his" (v. 9). Certainly no one can be in Christ who is disowned by him. There is another consideration which must not be overlooked. In E-om. vi. 6, 7, freeing from bondage to sin is spoken of as death to sin; but in this chap- ter we are informed that freeing from bondage to sin — this death to sin^s accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit, acting in Christ (v. 2). Thus it ap- pears that while death to sin may in part consist in our laying hold on the saving Power, it is consum- mated only by the Holy Spirit dwelling in those who are in Christ. This may seem to involve the difficulty that as justification is affirmed only of those who are dead to sin (ch. vi. 7), sanctiiication by the Holy Spirit precedes justification. But this is not neces- sarily so. Prof. Stevens regards justification and freeing from the power of sin as one act. "The verdict of acquittal is also the effective realization of an actual deliverance from sin itself."* Again, "There is no such thing as a judicial acquittal which is not also an effective moral deliverance."! And again, "So completely are they [justification and DQoral renewal] one for the apostle's mind that he can blend the language of the two representations and write: *He that hath died is justified from sin' " (Roni. vi. 7)4 That release from the guilt and from the power of sin are blended into one act of deliver- ance seems not an unnatural rendering of Paul's statements, and thus justification and the beginning of sanctification are made to coincide. Now, as death to sin is brought about by the indwelling of * T/ie T/ieolo.. _ Thus, Peter meets the difficulty involved in suspend- ing salvation on a mere physical act, not by placing salvation before baptism, but by placing in bap- tism a spiritual act that may fitly form a condition of salvation. What we are to understand by a *'good conscience" will depend on the rendering of the passage. If we read '*the inquiry of a good conscience after God," it will refer to the sincerity of the person seeking God. But it seems more natural to take a '*good conscience" in contrast with "the filth of the flesh"; and in this case it becomes, like the latter, an objective genitive, indicating the object sought in baptism. What this is, Peter informs us in Acts ii. 38, when he directs men to repent and be baptized that they may receive the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. To perform any act for the purpose of attain- ing any end is to make that act a seeking of the end. Peter's language in Acts makes baptism a seeking act, the object sought being the remission of sins and gift of the Holy Spirit. But how can this be the seeking of a "good conscience"? It is clear that remission of sins, or absolution, removes the guilt of sin, but if 262 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH the seeker does not know that this is done, it will not affect his consciousness; but when the Holy Spirit enters his heart, shedding abroad the sense of the divine love (Rom. v. 5), and filling him with the joy of adoption so that he cries out, *'Abba, Father" (Gal. iv. 6), he feels that all is well. Reliance upon such a mental experience might not be safe apart from an act of obedience, but it is essential to the consciousness of sonship, and is an assurance that our repentance and self-surrender have been genuine.* Thus the convert is freed not only from guilt, but from the sense of guilt; his justification is not only a fact, but a conscious fact. It is thus that in the re- mission of sins and gift of the Holy Spirit the seeker gains a '*good conscience." As Peter makes baptism a' seeking^ an ashing for a good conscience, it is plain that on its spiritual side he makes it a prayer. He is not alone in this. In Christ's t3^pical baptism, it was while he prayed that the Holy Spirit came upon him and the voice from heaven assured him of sonship (Lk. iii. 21, 22). Paul was commanded to be baptized and wash away his sins, "calling on his [Christ's] name" (Acts xxii. 16). The participle rendered calling on is in the middle voice, and has the force of **I call upon (in my behalf)." t It is a prayer of the soul for the blessing of salvation. There is in baptism the heart of a prayer, and physical baptism is its voice. Bap- tism is an opening of the heart for the divine bless- *Should any object that these references are not to Peter's own writings, it need only be said that the gift of the Holy Spirit itself, which he promises to all baptized penitents, would, apart from any assurance he might directly convey, be an evidence of divine acceptance. t Thayer's Lexicon .sub voce epikaleo. 263 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM ing and an earnest desire directed toward God for absolution and the indwelling of his Spirit. We are now prepared to ask an important ques- tion : What is this spiritual act which Peter places in baptism? It is faith^ in one of its aspects. With Peter, baptism is the seehing of a conscious release from the guilt of sin; with Paul to believe on Christ is to SEEK to he justified in him (Gal. ii. 16, 17). Faith, in one of its aspects, is a seeking for justifica- tion, and Peter places this in baptism. Paul, as we have previously seen, places the act of believing on Christ in baptism, and this, with himj is equivalent to seeking justification; Peter places this same spiritual act in baptism. This is not all. The eloment com- mon to the other descriptions of faith which we have mentioned is appropriation. To com^ to Christ (Jn. vi. 35), to partake of him as icood (^vv. 47-51), to re" ceive him (ch. 1. 12), and to put Mm on (Gal. iii. 27); are all acts of appropriation. NoWj on a moment's thought, it will be seen that this is just what P-^ter^s asking, or seeking, for a good conscience is. When it is uncertain whether a request will be granted or not, the request is necessarily wholly petitionary, but when there is a definite promise that the thing de- sired will be granted to the request, the asking be- comes a means of appropriation. There is such a definite promise regarding the thing asked for in bap- tism (Acts ii. 38); so that this mental asking becomes an appropriative act. Not only do the conditions of the case make this asking an appropriation, but they require that all appropriation shall be an asking. Salvation is of grace (favor), and favors are asked for, not demanded or simply taken possession of. Pardon is never demanded. All faith that is appro- 264 WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL ACT DENOTED BY FAITH priative must be petitionary. The faith that saves must be on its knees.* And this is Peter's spiritual act in baptism. Alas, that we should know faith so ill as not to recognize it in this attitude! It is faith in one of its most beautiful aspects, t It may now be asked whether Peter regarded this spiritual act which he places in baptism, as being faith. The question is not important, as it concerns only names. So long as he places in baptism that spiritual act by which salvation is appropriated^ and which is elsewhere under so many descriptions spoken of as faith, it can make little difference by what name he may choose to call it. But there is reason to be- lieve that Peter regarded this spiritual act either as faith itself J or as forming a constituent element of that faith that obtains salvation. In Acts x. 43, he says that **throughhis [Christ's] name every one that believeth on him shall receive remission of sins." If * Waterland, commenting on this passage, says: "Faith alone will not ordinarily serve in this case, but it must be a contracting faith on man's part, contracting in form corresponding to the federal promises and engagements on God's part." — Waterland Chi Justification, p. 440. This is true. The faith that saves must be a covenanting spiritual act, but, in the language of the heart, it is a suppliant reccivitig of salvation. t Regarding the other rendering which makes Peter's language read, "The inquiry of a good conscience after God," it may be remarked that this modifies the thought somewhat, but does not essentially change the aspect of the case. This "inquiry after God" would not, of course, be a mere act of seeking informa- tion about him, but the seeking of a blessed relationship, a union with him, thus still presenting this faith in its appropriative aspect. The passage still assigns to baptism a spiritual element, to which belongs its saving efficacy, and this, of the nature of a humble and suppliant appropriation of Christ's redemption. Even if the rendering were *^answer oi a good conscience," the spiritual element in baptism would still be faith in one of its aspects, viz., self-surrender. It would be the yes of the soul to all God requires in the gospel. "Yea, I^ord, I give myself to thee." 265 MOKAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM believing on Christ is the condition of remission of sins, and if salvation, including remission of sins (cf. Acts ii, 38). is made to depend on a spiritual act in baptism (1 Fet. iii. 21), it follows that this believing on Christ must embrace this spiritual act in baptism. If the believing spoken of in Acts x. 43 be taken to include the entire spiritual process of conversion, — belief of the truth, repentance and putting on Christ or entering into union with him, — 'it will reach its con- summation in baptism, and Peter's spiritual element in baptism will be a constituent part of it. Alas for any spiritual process of conversion that does not in- clude the spiritual step that Peter places in baptism ! — a humble, suppliant appropriation of Christ and his salvation. Peter places faith, as the spiritual act of appropri- ating Christ's salvation, in baptism. 266 CHAPTER II. SOME SIDE-LIGHTS. We have seen that the final spiritual step in con- version belongs to a chiss of acts which demand phy- sical embodiment, and that there are important rea- sons, both moral and spiritual, why this act should receive such embodiment. We have seen that the physical act of baptism is admirably fitted to meet this requirement, and that when it stands where the apostles placed it, this spiritual act naturally falls within baptism. We have seen also that both Paul and Peter place it there, and in terms so unequivocal that any attempt to separate the spiritual from the physical involves violence to their language. We now proceed to show that the placing of the spiritual act represented by baptism within baptism, is not an exceptional proceeding, but that it accords perfectly with the nature of all similar acts in Chris- tianity and with the habits of thought of the apos- tolic age.* § 1. The Lord's Supper. The LorcVs Day. Sacred Song. Let us first consider the Lord's Supper, a sister or- dinance instituted by the Lord himself. Baptism and the Lord's Supper belong to the same class of institutions, commonly designated ordinances. * «'We must remember also, that in the age and to the thought of St. Paul, the act of faith in the individual which brings him within the range of justification, is inseparably connected with its ratification in \m^t\sm:'^/nfenialional Critical Commentary on Romans, b}^ Prof. Sanday and Rev. Headlam, p. 123. 267 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM They each contain a formal or physical act which stands related to a corresponding spiritual act.* They differ in that the spiritual act in one case is commemorative, in the "other transitional. It there- fore results that one is to be frequently repeated, while the other is to be performed but once. The external acts also are different, corresponding to the difference of the spiritual acts to which they stand related. In a word, baptism and the Lord's Supper belong to the same class of institutions, but to differ- ent varieties under that class. The laws which pre- side over institutions of this class relate alike to both, and must not be disregarded. Certain of these laws will appear more clearly, if examined in their con- nection with the Lord's Supper. In order that we may rightly apprehend the nature of this institution, and the interrelation of its phy- sical and spiritual acts, it is important to note that there are two things to be distinguished — material sy77ibols SLiid ^physical act. The e^nhlems of the Lord's Supper point to something not present, — to the broken body and shed blood of our Lord, — and they represent an event far in the past — his violent death. But these emblems do not constitute the celebration of the Lord's Supper; they are only the means of its performance. The partaking of the Lord's Supper consists in an act — the eating of the bread and the drinking of the wine. Now, what does this physical act symbolize? Not Christ's body, not his blood, not * Baptism naturally represents a burial from the old life and a rising to the new life in Christ — a passing from one life to the other. It therefore represents the final step in conversion, and forms the center of a cluster of spiritual facts, such as are de- scribed by Paul and Peter, which are thus also brought within baptism. 268 SOME SIDK-IJGHTS his death, bat a spiritual act on the part of the par- ticipant. Of both parts Christ said, "Do this in re- membrance of me." (I Cor. xi. 24, 25.) The spiritual act is, in the first phice, an act of calling into mind and dwelling on Christ's death, and this upon a back- ground, and on a day, representative of his resurrec- tion. The heart feeds on the inspiring, quickening facts of its redemption. The act is also called a **communion" (I Cor. x. 16), and professional, in so far as it shows forth the Lord's death (1 Cor. xi. 26). The physical eating and drinking represent a spirit- ual eating and drinking, or partaking. Now, it is essential to the very existence of the Lord's Supper, that the spiritual act shall take place in the physical act which represents it, and not sim- ply at some other time. If, under the influence of a sermon vividly portraying the scenes of the* cruci- fixion, a whole congregation are carried back to the foot of the cross, and with melting hearts view the agonies of their Redeemer, and if, with the conclud- ing prayer all hearts ascend to him and seek commun- ion with him in spirit, we have the important ele- ments of the spiritual act belonging to the Lord's Supper; but this will not be the Lord's Supper, be- cause the physical act — the eating and drinking of the bread and wine — forms no part of it. Or again, if a body of Christians shall assemble and partake of a social meal, into the menit of which bread and wine enter, but without the spiritual act of remembering Christ's death and communing with him, tJtls will not be the Lord's Supper. The physical part is here, but the spiritual part is absent, and the mere physical act of partaking of bread and wine cannot constitute the Lord's Supper. Suppose, again, that either under 269 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM the influence of a sermon, or in a social meeting, all hearts are carried back to Calvary and up to heaven; and then, a month or so later, a social meal, such as has been described, is partaken of by the same com- pany. They have performed both the spiritual and physical acts of the Lord's Supper; but neither in the inspiring meeting nor in the social meal, nor in them both, in their separate performance, have they partaken of the Lord's Suppei ; nor can they do so, unless the spiritual act shall take place together with the physical, and constitute its spiritual element. Further, if the church should assemble and partake of the bread and wine in commemoration of some other event than that which is symbolized by the eat- ing and drinking, such, for example, as their own con- version, this would not be the Lord's Supper. It would substitute one spiritual element for another, the act not being performed in memory of Christ's death, but for quite a different purpose. But finally, suppose that, on passing the bread and wine, each communicant should simply touch the bread, and dip his finger into the wine, and with it make a cross on his forehead, the act might be very impressive, but there would be no eating and drink- ing, and it would not be a partaking of the Lord's Supper. I think all persons will agree that any one of these changes would amount to a destruction of the Lord's Supper; and yet, have they not all happened to baptism? With some, the spiritual element only has been retained and the physical discarded. With many, the spiritual act is made to take place alone, while the physical act which represents it also takes place by itself, and is called "a mere outward act"; 270 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS or this physical act is made to commemorate, or retrospectively represent, the candidate's conversion; and finally, the physical act itself is exchanged for one quite different, both in form and in import. But our main point for consideration is that of the separation of the spiritual act from the physical act which represents it. This, we have seen, in case of the Lord's Supper, would amount to an annihilation of the ordinance. A spiritual communion in a social meeting, or at family worship, and then, at some other time, eating and drinking bread and wine with- out any such spiritual accompaniment, would by no one be regarded as constituting the Lord's Supper. Yet it is common thus to separate the physical act of baptism from that which it represents. So import- ant is it that the spiritual act symbolized by the par- taking of the elements in the Lord's Supper should be present in the act, that Paul declares that the act, without this, becomes even damnatory. In 1 Cor. xi. 29 he says: "For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body." In this, the twin ordinance to baptism, we see how important it is that the spiritual act shall take place within the physical act representing it, and how indispensable it was regarded by an apostle that it should do so. Will it be said that baptism and the Lord's Supper differ — that one is an initiatory, and the other a com- memorative, act? The difference is admitted, but it still remains to be shown that this difference in any way affects the question of the relation of the spiritual act to its symbolic expression. Marriage is an initiatory act very closely resembling baptism, but the mental act of taking each other as husband 271 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM and wife, by the parties, must take place in marriage; and so important is it that it should do so that any tampering with it results in nothing less than a grave disaster to society. Were the external act either to be omitted altogether, or made to take place some time after the parties had taken each other as hus- band and wife and lived together as such, the moral disaster to society would be incalculable. One of the most momentous demands of morality is that the mental and external elements of marriage shall not be separated. To permit clandestine union, and transform the marriage act into a ceremony looking backward to the time when the parties began to live together without marriage, would be to break down its utility, and transform it into a mere plaything. The distinction between baptism and the Lord's Supper as initiatory and commemorative has, there- fore, no bearing on the question of the separation of the- spiritual and the symbolic in these acts. We have in the Lord's Supper a strong side-light, revealing the views of the apostles regarding the re- lation of the spiritual and the symbolic in institutions of this kind. The Lord's Day is not an act, but a portion of time set apart for commemorative and religious purposes; and, therefore, is so far removed from the nature of religious symbolic acts as to have no very close bear- ing on the question we are considering. But regard- ing this, even, it may be remarked that it can only be honored by being made a season wherein acts of spir- itual and religious devotion take place. It must con- tain within itself a spiritual element, — spiritual acts, — or cease to be the Lord's Day in any real sense. Perhaps we are hardly warranted in referring to 272 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS what Paul says in 1 Cor. xiv. 15 as bearing on this question, since the singing and praying "with the spirit" there mentioned may be regarded as referring to the ecstatic exaltation connected with the miracu- lous gift of tongues; but there are none who will for a moment question that the apostles must have re- quired that both prayer and religious song should contain within them spiritual acts of worship, and that when the vocalism ceased to be the investiture of acts of the heart, it became unvvorthy. § 2. Baptism unto Repentance. The severance of baptism from its spiritual element has had the effect to render obscure and difficult one of the most happily expressive passages of the New Testament. John the Baptist, in his address to the multitudes assembled at the Jordan, exclaimed: **I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance : but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire" (Mt. iii. 11). What does this statement regarding baptism "unto repentance" mean? Our ideas of repentance and of baptism are such as to require that repentance shall precede baptism. How, then, can baptism be "unto," or in order to, repentance? Various expedients have been resorted to to relieve this difficulty. One of these has been — assuming that repentance cannot follow, but must precede baptism — to claim that di cannot here mean unto, or in order to, and that it should be rendered "because of"; and this supposed necessary meaning has been turned to controversial account in support of the chiim that the ct? does not mean unto, or in order to, in Acts ii. 38, and that baptism "unto UU) remission of sins," there spoken 18 273 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM of, is really baptism because of remissiou of sins. But a serious objection to this rendering of eis in Matt. iii. 11 is that it is not supported by the best scholarship, but is a short and summary dealing with a linguistic difficulty in a seemingly controversial inter- est. The highest scholarship of the world lends it no sanction. The Authorized Version reads "unto repentance." So also does the Revised Version, with the concur- rence of both the English and the American commit- tees. The American Bible union translation (Bap- tist) also renders ets by *'unto." Anderson translates **iD order to repentance." So also Dr. Charles Hodge* who says that cts here has the meaning of *'in order to." Bloomfield says cis here "denotes purpose.'"-\ Winer says nothing about it, thus indicating that he gives no exceptional meaning to the word ei? in this passage. Thayer's New Testament Lexicon defines John's "baptism of repentance" as being "a baptism binding its subjects to repentance," and gives no such excep- tional meaning as because of to eis in this passage. Lange renders the words "unto repentance," and says that by his baptism in water John "calls them to repentance." Meyer says: "eis fteravotai/ denotes the telle reference of the baptism which imposes an obli- gation to /xeravota" (repentance). | This list need not be extended. Not one of these authorities renders the word ei5 in this passage by because of^ or by any equivalent term. The writer of this is not aware that any reputable scholar *Com. on Romans, p. 140. ^Commentary, in loco. JThe Peshito (Murdock's translation) reads **unto repentance." 274 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS has ventured to incorporate any such rendering of this passage into his translation of the New Testa- ment. It were not easy to find any linguistic ques- tion on which the world's foremost scholars are more completely united than in the view that eis in this pas- sage means **unto" or *'in order to," and that John's baptism was therefore in some sense, not "because of" repentance, but **unto" or *'in order to" repent- ance. Until we are able to show that this consensus of scholarship is wrong, we must accept it and seek some other solution of the difficulty involved. Va- rious other expedients have been resorted to for this purpose. It has been proposed to read "reformation" instead of "repentance," and refer the meaning to that out- ward change of life that follows repentance; but fxeravota scems hardly to bear this meaning. As Webster defines repentance as "the act of re- penfci ng, or the state of being penitent," it has been thought that John's baptism- may have introduced its subjects into a state of repentance — that is, into a life of penitence. There are several objections to this, one of which is, that the statement of the pas- sage would not then be true. If men must repent before baptism, the life of penitence would begin then, and baptism could not therefore introduce them into it. Seeing this difficulty, L. B. Wilkes, in his able work on Designs of Christian Baptism, suggests that the meaning may be that baptism introduces us "into formal and visible connection with the cause which John preached, and with the people whom John was making ready for the Lord."* It can hardly * Page 116. 275 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM be claimed that this removes all difficulty, and the author candidly remarks at the beginning of his dis- cussion that the ''passage is not without its difficul- ties." Turn them as we may, it is not easy to draw from John's words a clear and obvious meaning;* and yet we cannot suppose them to have been obscure to his hearers, or to the writer of the gospel. Do we occupy their view-point? May the trouble not lie in some defect in our apprehension of this whole mat- ter? Instead of seeking to bring the language into harmony with our own preconceptions, let us seek by further investigation to ascertain its real meaning. And let us now ask one question: Does repentance (/xeravota) always mean in the Scriptures precisely the same thing? It would be surprising if it did, for both the English v/ord repent and the Greek word /xeravoew have several meanings. The language of the Script- ures is not philosophical and technical, but popular; and in popuhir usage words of this class are generally elastic in meaning. To assume that the word repent' aiice has but a single cast-iron meaning, and then to seek to apply this meaning to all cases, is to miss our way in the matter of interpretation. Not only is it antecedently improbable that the word repentance (/xerai/ota) has only one meaning in the Scriptures, but there is positive evidence that such is not the fact. It does not lie within the province of this discussion to consider all the senses * The idea that John baptized impenitent persons for the pur- pose of binding them to repentance, seems inadmissible. A man may bind himself to change his conduct, but not to change his purpose, for such an act implies a change of purpose. Nor can he promise to feel in a particular way at some future time, for feel- ings are not summoned at will. Moreover, the people were bap- tized by John, "confessing their sins"; and unless this confes- sion was hypocritical, it implied a purpose to forsake them. 276 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS in which this word is used, but we shall notice two of them. In II. Cor. vii. 10 we read that "godly sorrow work- eth repentance unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no regret; but the sorrow of the world worketh death." Here sorrow and repentance are not the same, but stand to each other as cause and effect. The repentance is not sorrow, but a con- sequence of it. What it is, it is not necessary now to inquire. It is commonly regarded — and I think rightly — as a change of mind or purpose. The pres- ent object is to call attention to the fact that it is here distinguished from godly sorrow. Now, in con- nection with this, let us consider another fact: There was among the Jews something known as repentance *'in sackcloth and ashes." This "sack- cloth and ashes" was the great symbol of mourning. To speak of changing one's purpose "in sackcloth and ashes" w^ould be absurd. The change of purpose is necessarily the cause which must lead to the taking of the sackcloth and ashes when that step relates to one's wrong-doing. If we take tlie view that the taking of "sackcloth and ashes" was a mere profes- sion of something which had gone before, it would still point to that something as a great sorrow. Hence we should have another use of the word repentance.^ *3Tetanoeo here is not to be taken in the sense of doing penance. "Sitting in sackcloth and ashes" was not an act of expiation, but an expression of deep humiliation and sorrow for sin. ^ Pre- cisely the same act was wont to be performed as an expression of sorrow, when no sin was being repented of. Our versions read repent, not do penance; and Meyer gives the meaning of Mt. xi, 21 as: "Even those wicked heathen cities would have been brought to amendment long ago with deep sorrow for their sins." — Com. in loco. 211 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM But we are not permitted to regard the sackcloth aad ashes as merely retrospectiv^e of something already past. Christ refers to the practice in Mat. xi.21 and Luke X. 13. In the latter passage he says: "If the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which w^ere done in you [Chorazin and Bethsaida], they would have repented long ago sitting in sack- cloth and ashes." No interpretation which is not evacuating can fail to place this repentance in the act of ^^sittmg in sackcloth and ashes." The words "repented ... In sackcloth and ashes" also, in Mat. xi. 21, definitely place the mental act of repenting in its symbolic expression. The mental act is accompanied by its physical expression. Does any one doubt that mourning in sackcloth and ashes meant mourning while sitting in sackcloth and ashes? Were not all the symbols of mourning — going bare- foot and bareheaded, abstaining from anointing the head, from bathing and from conversation, scattering dust and ashes into the air, placing them upon the head, or lying down in them, wearing sackcloth, strik- ing the hands together or tossing them towards the sky, smiting the thigh or breast, fasting, etc. — were not all these accompaniments of the mourning itself? Not only does the language of Christ distinctly place this repentance in the act of "sitting in sackcloth and ashes," but the entire usage of this and other symbols of sorrow shows that they were accompaniments of that which they represented. There can be no doubt that Jesus regarded this repentance, whatever its nature might be, as taking place while sitting in sack- cloth and ashes; and this sense of the word re/?e?i^- ance was one of the most familiar to the minds of the 278 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS Jewish people. The usage extended back through mauy centuries and was still extant.* This repentance was regarded by Jesus as one of the profoundest and most deeply earnest character; and it is with this import that he adds the words *'in sackcloth and ashes" when speaking of the supposed repentance of the Tyrians and Sidonians. He recog- nizes the law that a great and soul-moving repentance would seek some strong expressional embodiment; and thus when speaking of this profoundly earnest repentance, he represents it as taking place in an act of this character. But it must be remembered that the repentance here spoken of cannot be a change of purpose, for this could not take place in the sack- cloth and ashes. Here then, is a repentance, whatever it may be, which was wont to take place in sackcloth and ashes. Under the pressure of the divine judgments and the stern rebukes of faithful prophets, the people had again and again been brought to repentance in sack- cloth and ashes; and now that here is the last of that illustrious line of prophets thundering his appeals into the ears of the Jewish people, it is likely that that great repentance of the prophets which naturally took place hi its symbolic expression will obtain here. We cannot be unmindful of what repentance had formerly meant, and had not ceased to mean, on such occasions, without cutting loose from the past and being guilty of an inexcusable anachronism. What, then, was this repentance which loomed so *In a footnote to Josephus' Antiquities, Book viii., ch. xiii. §8, Jerome (cited by Ryland) says: "The Jews weep to this day and roll themselves upon sackcloth, in ashes, barefoot, upon such occasions" (referring to the humiliation of Ahab). 279 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM large in the minds of the Jewish people at this time, and in preceding ages? What was it that had been wont to take place while * 'sitting in sackcloth and ashes"? It has been usual to regard sackcloth and ashes as the /jreat symbol of mourning; and such it was, but not this only. The repentance in sackcloth and ashes, or in sackcloth, or with fasting, was more than mere sorrow. When King Ahab heard of the judgments that God would bring upon him for his wickedness, it is said: "And it came to pass, when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his clothes, and put sack- cloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the ovil upon his house" (1 Kings xxi. 27-29). The most prominent signification here connected with the fasting and sit- ting in sackcloth and ashes is that of submission to God. Ahab "humbled" himself. Nor must we over- look the import of two other words — "before me." God said, "Ahab humbleth himself before me." Ahab's act was a God ward act — a social act. It was a symbolic utterance to God; it was submission; it was surrender. His course had been one of rebellion against God. He had done "very abominably in fol- lowing idols, according to all that the Amorites did," and now this act of humble submission is surrender to God, the surrender of a rebel. It said with a loud voice: "O God, I yield, I submit myself to thee and humble myself in the dust before thee." Here is a clear case of repentance in sackcloth and ashes. 280 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS What is it? What is the mental element in Ahab's act? It is not change of purpose, for that necessarily took phice before. It is humble submission to God, a mental act of surrender to him, taking place in a symbolic act of expression, called for by the feeling of the heart itself. Repentance in sackcloth and ashes, therefore, was far more than sorrow for sin; it was an act of profound submission to God. But, profoundly expressive as was this act of itself, the period of sitting in sackcloth and ashes or of fast- ing, as the case might be, was not always, and perhaps never, passed in unbroken silence. In the account of the repentance of the Ninevites with fasting and sackcloth and ashes, as reported in the third chapter of the Book of Jonah, we read that the people were instructed by the king to "cry mightily unto God" and to "turn every one from his evil way." What the people said in this mighty cry to God, we are not told, but we know that if it had not contained a surrender, their prayer would have frozen on their lipso We need not be told that it contained confes- sion, submission, surrender and pleadings for mercy. But the king bade them also to "turn every one from his evil way." We cannot be sure from the narrative that this turning was regarded as taking place simply in this solemn act of submission; but it is certain that this act of profound mourning for sin and sur- render to God, itself constituted a most solemn leave- taking of the past and entrance upon a better course. It was a turning. But what we are left to infer in this case is distinct- ly stated in another. In a time of famine and nation- al disaster, Joel exhorts the people, saying: "Yet even now, saith the Lord, turn ye unto me with all 281 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping and with mourning: and rond your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God" (Joel ii. 12, 13). Here, in an act of fasting, weeping and mourning, the people were exhorted to turn to God^ It was this that they were to do, with these accompan- iments. The fasting was not to embrace simply weep- ing and mourning, but pre-eminently a turning *'unto the Lord." This turning was to be a whole-hearted act, a sincere turning to God. But what does this mean? Was it simply a change of feelings or of purpose in reference to God? It could not possibly be this, since there would be no fasting or weeping and mourning until after this had taken place. What this turning to the Lord meant, may be learned from another passage. In II. Chron. xxx. 8, 9, we read: "Now be ye not stiff-necked as your fathers were; but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that led them captive, and shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto hiu>." The words, "For if ye turn again unto the Lord," at the beginning of the ninth verse, are a reference to what had been described in the preced- ing verse as a yielding to God and entrance upon his service. Let it be observed also, that in the pictorial imagery of the Hebrew, the sense of the word "yield," as given in the margin, is "give the hand." This is expressive of a social act — not a mere change 282 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS of feelings, but that which follows such a change — the act of surrendering to God, or entering into cor- dial relations with him. In view of these examples, the following conclu- sions are warranted: 1. When repentance was asso- ciated with any symbolic act expressive of it, such as sitting in sackcloth and ashes or fasting, it was re- garded as taking place in the act. 2. The spiritual act which took place in the symbolic act was not sim- ply that of mourning for sin, but also and most emphatically, humble submission, or surrender to God, or, as it is sometimes expressed, turning to God. Of the four cases mentioned, only one — that of Joel — says anything about sorrow, leaving that to be implied; but they all speak of either a humbling before God, or a turning to him. This was the prom inent, and, in all cases, indispensable element. 3. We see that the type of the Jewish mind, which was not metaphysical, did not seize predominantly on the mere change of purpose, but fixed its view upon that mental step which immediately succeeds such change of purpose, and necessarily implies it, viz., the fulfil- ment of that purpose in the spiritual-social act of surrender to God, or submitting oneself to him. This surrender or turning to God was to be with all the heart (Joel ii. 12), and if the sorrow and submis- sion were not genuine, the act was an abomination before God (see Isaiah Iviii. 3,4). This idea of re- pentance was not less spiritual than the one which prevailed later. It caught the flight of the soul to God, not awing, but rather reaching its goal. The Jew was wont to fix his gaze less prominently on pwr- posive than on factual repentance. Cremer's N'ew Testament Greek Lexicon says that the Hebrew word 283 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM ''usually employed to denote moral change or conver- sion is in the LXX rendered by eTrto-rpe^etv [to turn], and not by fteravoeti/, ' ' a fact which readily appears on ex- amination of the Septuagint with a Greek concord- ance. This fact is not without significance. In pass- ing from a life of sin and disobedience to a life of faithful and devout service of God, four mental steps may be involved. There may be (a) a change of opinion or belief, (b) a change of feelings, (c) a change of purpose, and (d) a turning to God, or giv- ing oneself up to him in holy service, resulting from the preceding change of purpose. Now, of these four steps, the verb eTna-Tpicfio) points specifically to the last. It implies the others, and in a looser sense may be used to embrace them; but it definitely means not only a "turning from a certain state or conduct," but also "a positive entrance upon a cer- tain state or conduct";* and when followed by the words "unto the Lord," it designates a social act graphically described as "giving the hand" to God. When, therefore, repentance was attended by any symbolic act of expression, such as sitting in sack- cloth and ashes or fasting, this mental act of turning would most naturally and fitly take place in it, not before it. But let it be distinctly noted, that if this repentance, or turning, had consisted of any of the preceding steps, such as change of purpose or change of feeling, it could not have taken place in sackcloth and ashes. This great Jewish repentance, therefore, was specifically that mental act which follows change of feeling and purpose. But it was not merely formal; it was the real spiritual act of surrender to God, all *Cremer's Lexicon y sub voce. 284 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS that had preceded it being an emotional and pur- posive change, and not a mental act directed to God. It was not a mere profession. It was a profoundly spiritual act — a contrite giving oneself up to God in holy service, and, if performed in sincerity, a deep- ening and fortifying of all that had taken place in the initial sorrow and change of purpose. It was a greatening of repentance, — as we now understand that word, — a descent into the depths, a deep, solemn turning from sin to God. It embodied sorrow, con- trition for sin, a solemn and impressive leave-taking of the old life, a heartfelt surrender to God, and an entrance in holy consecration upon his service. And this all took place in (and fitly so) an external act of expression. The profound spiritual value of such a repentance bears the seal of Christ's own approval when he re- fers to it (Mt. xi. 21) as the most deeply earnest form of repentance known to the people of his time. These are the facts regarding the prevailing Jewish conception of repentance. What bearing have they on John's language in Mt. iii. 11? It is certain that if the repentance he preached was connected with a symbolic act, it not only might, from its nature, take place in the symbolic act, but this had been the common understanding, and as we learn from the language of Christ already referred to, was still the understanding of the Jewish people regarding such acts. As in hand- shaking the mental act of greeting takes place, and fulfills itself in the physical act, so had repentance been wont to take place in sackcloth and ashes, fasting, etc. But what shall the symbolic act be in this case? John's message was not one of calamity. It was 285 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM not like the doomful i3roclamation of Jonah, nor, as in Joel, did it have reference to famine and disaster, but it was the announcement of the hope of Israel. It was the foregleam of the rising sun. It was a joy- ful message. Hence the repentance he preaches can- not be one of predominant mourning; and to adopt such a symbol would but insure hypocrisy in its use. Sitting in sackcloth and ashes could not represent such a repentance. Another symbol, therefore, is introduced — one which does not dispense with con- trition, but sets a bow in its cloud. This repentance is no prolonged period of mourning, but a sorrow- glad TURNING, and may well find expression in bap- tism. Let us now read this typical repentance of the Jewish nation, and of the Jewish prophets, into John's language: "I indeed baptize you in water in order to your solemn abandonment of your past, and your contrite surrender to God and entrance upon his service." Well, if John's baptism was not a mere empty ceremony — a mere outward act — that is just what it was for; and the repentance — the turning, the "giving the hand" to God — took place in the sym- bolic act, just where the Jews were wont to place it. Here all difficulty with this passage vanishes. John's language is very happily expressive of just what took place. The baptism was in order to (with a view, to) this repentance. John's baptism, however, was not only a baptism "unto (eis) repentance," but also "unto (eis) remis- sion of sins." The construction in both cases is precisely the same. Do these expressions locate similarly the repentance and the remission of sins? The same expression concerning remission of sins is 286 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS used in regard to Christian baptism in Acts ii. 38 — €L<; acfjea-Lv (iiiito remission). But this is also spoken of in Acts xxii. 16 under the figure of a ivashing away of sin. Now in washing, the cleansing is not effectecP after the washing, but in the act. The same is true of Peter's reference to the salvation of Noah and his family in the ark, which he declares to be a type of baptism. The "eight souls" were not saved by water aftei^ the flood, but while the water was bearing the ark up, and thus preventing the drowning of itsj inmates. Titus iii. 5 conveys a similar thought. The salvation is represented as being accomplished ^Hhrough the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit," not after it. These references do not imply that the water of baptism has any inde- pendent saving efficacy, but they do imply that the remission of sins was regarded as taking place in baptism. If the *'unto (eis) remission of sins," when referring to Christian baptism, points to such a relation between baptism and remission, the same language would indicate that remission of sins took place also in John's baptism; and thus remission of sins would sustain precisely the same relation to baptism, in point of time, as repentance did. The language is "unto (ets) repentance" in one case, and "unto (ets) remission of sins" in the other; and both expressions point to a purpose reaching its accom- plishment in baptism. Thus the whole transaction grows luminous; for John's baptism was nothing else than a meeting place of the sinner and his God. It was a divine-human act; on the part of the sinner, a farewell to sin and a surrender to God, the "giving of the hand," the reaching up of the soul to God in holy commitment; on the part of God, the remission of 287 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM sins, the kiss of reconciliation. It was a holy place; and well might John warn off all profane hearts from such ground, as he did the Pharisees and Sadducees, in verses 7-12. John's baptism was a burial from the old life, and a rising to a life of righteousness; and it was a washing in which God remitted the sins of the penitent. It has been the object of this examination to pre- sent nothing but facts; and it is seen that under their light, the entire lano:uage regarding John's baptism stands out in the symmetry of perfect fitness, and the whole institution grows holy with a new light. Well might it be called a *'baptism of repentance," for it held repentance as the casket holds the jewel. Well might it be said to be **unto repentance," for that was just what it was for; and "unto remission of sins," for it was for that also. Its spiritual element was the spiritual clasping of hands between the soul and its God. If we drop the word "repentance," with its later limitations of meaning, and substitute the word which generally stands for that act in the Old Testament, all difficulty vanishes from this pass- age. John's baptism was the baptism of turning, because it was the turning act — the act in which the people turned to God. He baptized them *'unto," or **in order to" turning, because the very purpose of the act was that they should turn to God — spiritually "give the hand" to God— in it. It is important for us to observe, however, that this meaning of repentance (/xeravota) was probably not the only one, even at that time. The Greek-speaking Jews had for centuries been familiar with fxerdvoLa with its classical senses; and there is no reason to doubt that other senses of the word existed side by 288 SOME SIDE-LIGHTS side with this ; nor can we be sure that even in speak- ing of John's repentance the word always has this meaning. As Prof. Sanday says that Paul glides from one sense of the word faith to another, as the hand of a violin player passes from one string to another; so may the inspired writers have passed from one to the other of the meanings of repentance, and this even unconsciously, as is often done. It is only necessary that we recognize that the sense just described was one of the meanings of the word i^epentance which lay familiarly in the minds of the people at that time. Then, according to the mental aptitude by which we swiftly and unconsciously fit meaning to context, this meaning would take its place in such a passage as Mt. iii. 11. It may be said, however, that there is nowhere any statement regarding John's repentance that this definition will not fully satisfy; and, while we have not the data for a definite conclusion, there is no reason to think that he used the word in any other sense. He called the people to a solemn leave- taking of their sins, and a heart-felt surrender to God and entrance upon his faithful service, and then bade them bring forth fruits befitting such a step. This meaning of the word implies, or presupposes, change of purpose and everything else which belongs to any conception of repentance; but the focus of vision is fixed on the contrite turning from the life of sin and surrender to God, rather than on the change of purpose. But something afterward happened to this defini- tion of repentance, and it finally passed out of use. What befell it, and how it came about, must now be considered. As soon as we reach Christian baptism, we become aware, by the change of phraseology, that 19 289 MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BAPTISM something has happened. We also discover that this change appertains, not to the relation of baptism to remission, but to its relation to repentance. Both baptisms are said to be "unto (eig) remission of sins,'* but Christian baptism (1) is never, like John's bap- tism, called a "baptism of repentance"; (2) it is never said to be *'unto repentance"; and (3) it is, unlike John's baptism, said to be preceded by re- pentance (Acts ii. 38). This change of expression evidently points to some underlying difference, and locates that difference in the relation of repentance to baptism. What is the nature of this change, and what brought it about? I think we may say unhesitatingly that it is all due to the presence of a new factor in conversion — ^e/-- sonal faith in Christ — the act of personal adhesion to Christ — entrance into union with him. John's converts had the usual Jewish faith in God, and superadded to this a belief in the near approach of the Messiah and his kingdom, but this was vastly different from personal faith in Christ. The Jewish nation had long believed in God and cherished the hope of Israel, and John's disciples added to this only the belief that its fulfilment was near at hand; but, in personal faith in Christ we have the over- shadowing and distinctive feature of Christianity. In the examination of the nature of this faith, it was shown that it embraced within itself self-surren- der to God, and a death to (quittance of) the old life and entrance upon a new — that is, it completely sub- sumed, or drew into itself, the repentance of John. The spiritual element of Christian baptism, therefore, like John's, embraces a dying to sin and a rising to a better life, together with a surrender to God, but it 290 SOMF. 8inE-LI(;ilTS includes soinethiug vastly more — personal faith in Christ, union with him; and this new element is so characteristic, and of such overshadowing import- ance, that it gives the na7ne to the whole. Cremer's Biblico-Theological Lexicon speaking of the passage in Mt. iii. 11, says: "There is a distinction between the baptism of John and that of the Messianic church, in which ^crdvoia is appropriated by Trto-rts. The baptism of John is styled Kar ii, the (Sd-n-Tiafm /xeravoca? [the baptism of repentance] in Mk. i. 4; Lk. iii. 3; Acts xiii. 24, xix. 4 — we might according- ly designate Christian baptism pdima-im irL(TTeo}