5. By endeavouring to walk by faith; to have our conversation in holiness and righteousness, as those that have therein given themselves to Christ; and to walk in brotherly love, as being baptized into one body by the same Spirit.

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,-1. That baptism is a very simple, but a very important ordinance. 2. That what is signified by water is most necessary. 3. The necessity of adhering to the command of Christ in administering this ordinance. 4. The importance of being well acquainted with the nature of baptism. 5. The danger of neglecting and contemning it.

Of the Subjects of Baptism.

Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible Church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible Church are to be baptized.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,-

1. That baptism is not to be administered to any who are not members of Christ's Church, till they profess their faith in him. Acts viii. 36, 37.-"What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest."

2. That a profession of future obedience to Christ is necessary, before any who are not members of his Church be baptized. 1 Pet. iii. 21.-"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

3. That children of believing parents are proper subjects of baptism, as God bestows on many of them the blessings which it signifies. Luke xviii. 16.-"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God."

4. That children of believing parents are entitled to the sign of the covenant, as God has given them the promise

of it. Acts ii. 39.-"The promise is unto you and to your children."

5. That children are to be considered ceremonially holy, and are entitled to the sign of the covenant, by the profession and membership of only one of their parents. 1 Cor. vii. 14.—“The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; else were your children unclean; but now are they holy."

6. That the infants of a family are entitled to the sign of the covenant, on the profession and baptism of their parent. Acts xvi.—“And was baptized, he and all his, straightway.”

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 321.-Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible Church, until they profess faith in Christ and obedience to him.

By the visible Church we are to understand a society composed of all those, together with their children, who, in all ages and places of the world, profess the true religion. The visible Church is opposed to what is called the invisible Church, which is composed of all the elect that have been or shall be gathered into one under Christ the head.-Eph. i. 10, &c.; John x. 16, and xi. 52.

1

There are various descriptions of people, who are obviously without the visible Church, and who, of course, have no right to the seals of the covenant; such as Jews, Mahometans, pagans, infidels, and scandalous persons, &c. As such, neither they nor their children are to be baptized, for they are without the covenant-they are visibly far from righte ousness, and they want even a name to live. To baptize such while they continue in that state, would be a prostitution of the ordinance.—Eph. ii. 12.

Baptism, however, is not to be withheld from these for ever. We are here told, that it is only not to be administered to them, until they profess faith in Christ and obedience to him. To "profess faith in Christ," is to profess a belief of the whole system of revealed truth. And to "profess obedience to Christ," is to yield an external subjection to all his ordinances and institutions, and to promise future obedience to his laws. Acts viii. 37, and ii. 46. It must, however, be remembered, that such a profession respects those only who have come to years of understanding. If any continue without the covenant, they exclude themselves for ever from the seal of the covenant.

But seeing the Church is viewed as visible and invisible, profession may be considered both with respect to God and with respect to man. With respect to man, a visible and public profession of faith in Christ and obedience to him, is all that is necessary to give a right, before the visible Church, to all its privileges. But with respect to God, none but they who are truly within the bond of the covenant, have a right to baptism, or to any of the privileges of the Church.

Obs. 322. The children and infants of believing parents have a right to baptism.

That the infants of believing parents have a right to baptism, may be proved from the Abrahamic covenant, or the covenant which God made with Abraham; provided it was the covenant of grace the same in substance, and containing the same blessings as that one under which believers now are. Now, that this covenant was the covenant of grace, is evident from a comparison of Gen. xvii. 7, where the cove nant made with Abraham is expressed, with Heb. viii. 10, where the new covenant is expressed. In the one, the promise is, "To be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee;" and in the other, it is, "I will be to them a God, and they (the house of Israel, which must surely include infants) shall be to me a people." But God cannot be said to be the God of any and of their seed, in the natural sense of the expression, but in Christ Jesus his Son, or through the covenant of grace. Therefore, as the covenant of grace promises every thing, when God promises to be our God; so the Abrahamic covenant, which promises the same thing in the same manner, must be the covenant of grace. But the covenant made with Abraham included his seed, and gave them a right to circumcision, the seal of it. Hence, in like manner, it must follow, that children are now also included in the covenant blessings, or have a right to baptism, the seal of the covenant. See also Luke i. 54, &c., where we learn that the Old Testament saints were under the same covenant of grace under which believers now are.

That the children of believing parents ought to be baptized, may also be proved from various other passages of Scripture:

1. It may be proved from Luke xviii. 16.-"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God, or of heaven.”—Matt. xix. 14. From

360

these words of our Saviour it is evident, that little children are capable of church membership, or of being in the king. dom of heaven; and if so, they are surely capable of baptism, the initiatory seal of the covenant.

2. It may be proved from Mark x. 14-16, where we read, that Jesus "took up little children in his arms, and put his hands upon them, and blessed them." By this he evidently declared to his apostles, that children were capable of receiv ing spiritual blessings, and, consequently, the visible sign of their being members of the kingdom of God. And it is farther evident, that at the very moment in which Christ blessed them, they were members of the Church; for, said he, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven."

3. It may be proved from Matt. xxviii. 19.-" Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." From this, in connection with the preceding passages, it is evident, that little children were to be baptized; being a part of the nations which Christ commissioned his apostles to teach and baptize. If there are any little children in the kingdom of God above, (and who can say that there are not?) it will not be very easy to prove, that in this world baptism ought not to be administered to them as such.

4. It may be proved from 1 Cor. vii. 14." The unbeliev ing husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; else were your children unclean; but now are they holy." This is a passage which shows in a very clear light, notwithstanding the inconsistent objections of opponents, the right of children to baptism in virtue of their relation to their believing parents. The holiness here spoken of must be something which flows from the holiness of one or both of the parents, and without which the children would be unclean; and surely this can mean nothing more than what is called a federal or a covenant holiness, which entitles the children to the privileges of the covenant. And if children are thus holy, who can deny them the seal

of the covenant?

5. It may be proved from Acts ii. 38, 39.-"Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost; for the promise is to you and to your children." Whatever the promise is to which the apostle here alludes, nothing is more obvious than that he

361

Is it as a motive, why they and their children should be otized, or submit by this external sign to the dispensation Christ. If, then, the promise was any reason why the ents should be baptized, it was as good a reason why the ldren should be baptized; the promise being made to h. This is as plain as language can make it. The prose is to you, parents; therefore be ye baptized: the prose is to you, children; therefore be ye also baptized. If apostle were made to speak a different language, accordto the Baptists, a Jew might with the utmost propriety que thus:" I see that the promise-the motive now urged s made to my children as well as to myself; if, therefore, s no reason why they should be baptized, it can be no reawhy I should be baptized." But with respect to the mise here alluded to, that it is not (as the Baptists mainn) the Prophecy of Joel, before referred to by the apostle er. 17-21), is evident; because, were this the case, it would low, either that baptism belonged to the age of miracles, ich continued but a short time after the ascension of arist; or that all who have been baptized, have been baped in the faith of a promise, which has not been fulfilled; ich would be a gross insult upon the faithfulness of a prosing God. But, on the other hand, that it is the covenant ade with Abraham, is evident from Gal. iii. 14, 29, where is covenant is expressly called the promise. And it is said, If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs cording to the promise,”—to what promise ?-not surely the rophecy of Joel, but the promise which God made with braham; which, moreover, is put beyond all doubt by conHering Acts iii. 25, 26. And the covenant made with braham may well be called the promise made to him; and believers are called his children and heirs according to the omise, we may safely rely upon it, that the promise in the ssage before us is the very same as the covenant of grace. , then, this is urged as a motive to baptism, it must doubtss respect children as well as their parents; for the promise spected Abraham and his seed, who were both circumcised. 6. It may be proved from Rom. xi. 16, 17.—“ If the first uit be holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root be holy, are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken f, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among em, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the ive tree; boast not against the branches," &c. From this

Ꮓ

tr