AND OF OUR ADOPTION TO BE THE SONS OF GOD BY THE HOLY GHOST, ARE VISIBLY SIGNED AND SEALED. Baptism is the sign and seal of the Christian covenant, the great characteristic doctrine of which is the promise of forgiveness of sins : "Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins (b);" and St. Paul, in the passage already quoted from his Epistle to Titus, declares, that our salvation is accomplished by baptism, and by the regenerating influence of the Holy Ghost, which is the infallible consequence of our "holding fast the profession of our faith (c)," which we make in baptism. But we must remember what we learn from St. Peter, that the "baptism which saveth us is 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 (d)." The answer of a good conscience can be no otherwise secured than by a faithful adherence to those engagements which we make in baptism; this it is which really saves us through the merits of Christ, and not the bare performance of the outward ordinance. THE ADOPTION TO BE THE SONS OF GOD is another (b) Acts, c. 2. v. 38. (d) 1 Pet. c. 3. v. 21. (c) Heb. c. 10. v. 23. another effect of baptism: " For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ (e)." FAITH IS CONFIRMED AND GRACE INCREASED BY VIRTUE OF PRAYER UNTO GOD. This is the natural and constant effect of sincere and devout prayer; and we may rest assured that God will not fail to hear those who call upon him at the performance of the holy rite of baptism. Baptism therefore is a fœderal admission into Christianity; it is the seal of a contract in which all the privileges and blessings of the Gospel are on God's part conditionally promised to the persons baptized; and they on the other hand engage by a solemn profession and vow to maintain the doctrines, and observe the precepts, of the Christian religion. The spiritual effects of baptism are clearly asserted in the antient ecclesiastical writers; and nothing can mark more strongly the high idea they entertained of the importance of this Sacrament, than the names which they applied to it: they called it a divine indulgence; an absolution from sin; birth in water; a regeneration of the soul; the laver of regeneration; the water (e) Gal. c. 3. v. 26 & 27. of of life; the unction; the seal of the Lord; the illumination; the salvation; the garment of immortality; the priesthood of the laity; and the signature of the faith (f). The last part of this article asserts the lawfulness of infant baptism. The command given to Abraham, and repeated by Moses, to circumcise children on the eighth day after their birth, plainly proves, that there is no impropriety in admitting infants into a religious covenant; and this command, when applied to baptism, has the greater weight, as it is generally agreed that circumcision was a type of baptism. The practice of the Jews in baptizing proselytes has been already noticed; and it is farther to be observed, that if a proselyte had infant children born to him when he was himself baptized, they were also baptized, though children, born after the father had embraced the Jewish religion, were not baptized. Baptism was instituted by our Saviour in very general terms, "Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (g)." In this form of baptism there is no restriction or exception whatever. Nations consist of persons of all ages, and therefore infants, (f) Wall and Bingham, book 11. ch. 1. 66 infants, as well as adults, must be included in this command as the objects of baptism; and this inference will be the more evident, when we reflect that the commission was given to Jews, who were accustomed to see infants baptized; and they would of course consider themselves authorized to receive converts to Christianity in the same manner as they had received converts to Judaism. Had our Saviour intended any alteration in the Jewish practice of baptizing, or any limitation with respect to age, he would not have failed to specify it. If the baptism of infants," says Dr. Lightfoot, "had been as unheard of, as unseen, and as new before the coming of John as circumcision was till it pleased God to enjoin it to Abraham, then there is no doubt but God would have either marked his approbation of it by an example, or have enjoined it by command, as we know that circumcision was enjoined. But since, among all the rites of the Jews, there was not a single one more public, or more known, than this very baptism of infants, which was as familiar to them as their circumcision, whether we regard the time when John appeared, or many ages prior to him, it by no means follows, that an example, or an express command, was was as necessary concerning the baptizing of infants when John came, as it was concerning the circumcision of infants or others in the time of Abraham, as being a thing which had been neither heard of, nor seen in all the world, before it was instituted by God (h)." There is nothing in the nature of baptism, which renders it improper or unsuitable for children : it is a fœderal rite instituted for the benefit of those who receive it; and parents, whose duty it is to provide for the eternal, as well as for the temporal, welfare of their children, are, by the law of nature, empowered to cause them to enter into this engagement, which they may themselves hereafter ratify and confirm; and the Jewish writers state this as the ground upon which they required the infant children of proselytes to be baptized. If parents be commanded to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (i)," surely it is incumbent upon them to take care that they be made members of that religion, in the precepts and doctrines of which they are to be instructed. If the promise be made to us and to our children, without any limitation of age, why should they not all, since they are to partake 66 (h) Harm. in Joan. c. 1. v. 25. |