EVERY divine institution has its own specific design. They all, indeed, have one grand, general design;--the glory of God, and the happiness of man. But, as neither the glory of God nor the happiness of man consists in one item, or in one manifestation, his precepts and our acts of obedience are necessarily both numerous and various. Nature and religion being the offspring of the same supremely wise and benevolent mind, may be supposed to carry in them conclusive evidence of the same divine original. Hence, the numerous and various parables and allusions to nature on the part of the great Teacher, while developing that gracious institution, of which he is the beginning, middle, and end.

      Now as in nature, no one ordinance or institution can become a substitute of another, so, in Christianity, no one, ordinance can either be dispensed with or substituted for another, but at the detriment and loss of the subject. There is a specific virtue in every ordinance of religion, as in every ordinance of nature. There is no substitute for air, light, heat, or moisture, in either the vegetable or animal kingdom; and there is no substitute for faith, repentance, and baptism, in the present dispensation of grace. It is not for us to ask, nor is it due to us from God to give, the reason why. He ordains and commands blessings to be bestowed in his own way; and it is alike our duty and our happiness implicitly to obey and enjoy them. We have only to ascertain the fact that God has so commanded, and our duty then is to obey.

      All the ordinances of Christianity are means of grace. Faith, repentance, baptism, the Lord's day; the Lord's supper, the church and its ministry, are all means of grace. There are, indeed, many graces requisite to the completion and perfection of Christian character. There is the grace of faith--the grace [259] of repentance--the grace of forgiveness--the grace of justification--the grace of sanctification--the grace of adoption--the grace of assurance--the grace of perfection--the grace of happiness. There are means of each and of all of these graces. Is there the grace of faith? There are the means of faith; the well-attested testimony of God. Is there the grace of repentance? There are the arguments drawn from our guilt and God's infinite mercy. Is there the grace of forgiveness? There are the blood of Christ, the love of God, and the promises addressed to our faith. Is there the assurance of pardon? There is baptism for the remission of sins; and, as a consequence, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Spirit. Is there the grace of justification? There are the death of Christ; faith in it, repentance, and a baptism into his death. Is there the grace of adoption? There is the Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God. Is there the grace of perfection? There are the precepts, the example of Christ, the Lord's day, the Lord's supper, the fellowship and prayers of kindred spirits, and the obedience of faith. Is there the grace of happiness? Then there are the love of God shed abroad in the heart, the favour of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Ghost--a pledge and an earnest of the eternal rest.

      But we have now before us the special design of baptism, as the assurance of remission; a pledge of pardon, of our burial with Christ, and our resurrection to a new life. This is "baptism for the remission of sins." That baptism was designed for the remission of sins, for a pledge and an assurance of pardon, through the Messiah, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; we shall now first proceed to prove.

      1. Testimony of the Harbinger himself: "In those days came John the Baptist; the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." Mark, the Evangelist; chap. i. 2, 3, 4.

      2. Luke also affirms, chap. iii. 3: "And he came into all the country about the Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."

      3. Peter, to whom the keys of the approaching Reign of Heaven were committed by the Lord in person, in opening the [260] gospel kingdom, when first asked by penitent believers what they should do in order to remission, answers--"Repent," or reform, "and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of sins." Acts ii. 37.

      4. This connection between faith and baptism for the remission of sins, nay, for salvation itself, was, indeed, first announced by the Lord in person, in giving the commission after his resurrection--"Preach the gospel to every creature." "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Mark xvi. 16.

      5. Ananias, sent specially to Saul of Tarsus by the Lord, preaches after the same manner, when he says, Acts xxii. 16, "Arise, brother Saul, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling upon the name of the Lord."

      6. Cornelius, the centurion, on hearing Peter, was hearing words by which an angel told him, "he and his family should be saved." And when these words were announced, Peter commanded him and all present forthwith to be baptized. Acts x.

      7. We shall hear Luther, the great Reformer:--

      "This is not done by changing of a garment, or by any laws or works, but by a new birth, and by the renewing of the inward man, which is done in baptism, as Paul saith, 'All ye that are baptized have put on Christ,' Also, 'According to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.' Tit. iii. 5. For besides that they who are baptized are regenerated and renewed by the Holy Ghost to a heavenly righteousness and to eternal life, there riseth in them also a new light and a new flame; there riseth in them new and holy affections, as the fear of God, true faith, and assured hopes, &c. There beginneth in them also a new will, and this is to put on Christ truly and according to the gospel.

      "Therefore, the righteousness of the law, or of our own works, is not given unto us in baptism; but Christ himself is our garment. Now Christ is no law, no lawgiver, no works, but a divine and an inestimable gift, whom God hath given unto us, that he might be our justifier, our Saviour, and our Redeemer. Wherefore to be appareled with Christ according to the gospel, is not to be appareled with the law or with works, but, with an incomparable gift; that is, with remission of sins, righteousness, peace, consolation joy of spirit, salvation, life, and Christ himself." Luther on Galatians: Phila. 1801, 8vo. p. 302.

      8. We shall next hear Calvin:--

      "From baptism out faith derives three advantages, which require to be distinctly considered. The first is, that it is proposed to us by the Lord as a symbol, and token of our purification; or, [261] to express my meaning more fully, it resembles a legal instrument properly attested, by which he assures us that all our sins are cancelled, effaced, and obliterated, so that they will never appear in his sight, or come into his remembrance, or be imputed to us. For he commands all who believe, to be baptized for the remission of their sins. Therefore, those who have imagined that baptism is nothing more than a mark or sign by which we profess our religion before men, as soldiers wear the insignia of their sovereign as a mark of their profession, have not considered that which was the principal thing in baptism; which is, that we ought to receive it with this promise, 'He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved.' Mark xvi. 16.

      "2. In this sense we are to understand what is said by Paul, that Christ sanctifieth and cleanseth the church 'with the washing of the water by the word,' Ephes. v. 26; and, in another place, that 'according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost,' Tit. iii. 5; and by Peter, that 'baptism doth save us,' 1 Pet. iii. 21. For it was not the intention of Paul to signify that our ablution and salvation are completed by the water, or that water contains in itself the virtue to purify, regenerate, end renew; nor did Peter mean that it was the cause of salvation, but only that the knowledge and assurance of it is received in this sacrament: which is sufficiently evident from the words they have used. For Paul connects together the 'word of life' and 'the baptism of water;' as if he had said, that our ablution and sanctification are announced to us by the gospel, and by baptism this message is confirmed. And Peter, after having said that 'baptism doth save us,' immediately adds, that it is 'not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God,' which proceeds from faith. But on the contrary, baptism promises us no other purification than by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ; which is emblematically represented by water, on account of its resemblance to washing and cleansing. Who, then, can pretend that we are cleansed by that water, which clearly testifies the blood of Christ to be our true and only ablution? So that, to refute the error of those who refer all to the virtue of the water, no better argument could be found, than in the signification of baptism itself, which abstracts us as well from that visible element, which is placed before our eyes, as from all other means of salvation, that it may fix our minds on Christ alone.

      "3. Nor must it be supposed that baptism is administered only for the time past, so that for sins into which we fall after baptism, it would be necessary to seek other new remedies of expiation, in I know not what other sacraments, as if the virtue of baptism were become obsolete. In consequence of this error, it happened in former ages, that some persons would not be [262] baptized except at the close of their life, and almost in the moment of their death, so that they might obtain pardon for their whole life; a preposterous caution, which is frequently censured in the writings of the ancient bishops. But we ought to conclude, that at whatever time we are baptized, we are washed and purified for the whole of life. Whenever we have fallen, therefore, we must recur to the remembrance of baptism, and arm our minds with the consideration of it, that we may be always certified and assured of the remission of our sins. For though, when it has been once administered, it appears to be past, yet it is not abolished by subsequent sins. For the purity of Christ is offered to us in it; and that always retains its virtue, is never overcome by any blemishes, but purifies and obliterates all our defilements."

      9. Timothy Dwight, President of Yale, says:--

      "To be born of water here means baptism and in my view it is as necessary to our admission into the visible church, as to be born of the Spirit is to our admission into the invisible kingdom." "It is to be observed, that he who understands the authority of this institution and refuses to obey it, will never enter into either the visible or the invisible kingdom."

      10. Dr. Thomas Scott, author of the Commentary, says:--

      "Men and brethren, what shall we do?--To this the Apostle replied, by exhorting them to repent of all their sins, and openly to avow their firm belief that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, by being baptized in his name. In thus professing their faith in him, all who truly believed would receive a full remission of their sins for his sake, as well as a participation of the sanctifying and comforting graces of the Holy Spirit." Scott's Commentary on Acts ii. 38.

      11. Witsius (on the Economy of the Covenants, London, 1837, 2 vols. p. 429) says:--

      "Thus far concerning the rites of immersion and emersion. Let us now consider the ablution or washing, which is the effect of the water applied to the body. In external baptism there is 'the putting away the filth of the flesh,' 1 Peter iii. 21, which represents the ablution or washing away the filth of the soul contracted by sin, Acts xxii. 16, 'Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.' But the filth of sin may be considered either with respect to the guilt, which is annexed to the filth or stain, and so it is removed by remission, which is a part of justification; or with respect to the stain itself, or spiritual deformity and dissimilitude to the image of God, and so it is taken away by the grace of the sanctifying Spirit; and both are sealed by baptism. Of the former, Peter speaks, Acts ii. 38, 'Be baptized, every one of you, in the [263] name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.' Concerning the latter, Paul writes, Ephes. v. 25, 26, 'Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.' And they are laid before us both together, 1 Cor. vi, 11, 'But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.'"

      So speaks one of the moat learned and influential of the great continental doctors, in his work on the Economy of the Covenants.

      12. Rev. James McCord, one of the most popular and learned Presbyterian ministers of Kentucky, of the present century, said some years ago:--

      "You will not, therefore, deem it an unreasonable statement, that there is no ordinary possibility of salvation without the precincts of the Christian church, if once we can clearly make it out to you that the church is the great mean of effecting man's salvation.

      "This is not one of those questions that are only to be settled by long and difficult argument. It is a question of fact; and you mil find the decision written, as with a sunbeam, in every page of Scripture. When the Saviour gave commandment to his Apostles to proclaim his great salvation to all people under heaven, what was the declaration that accompanied this commandment? 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.' When those Apostles made the first proof of their ministry, in the city of Jerusalem, on the memorable day of Pentecost, what was their answer to the agonized multitudes who felt convicted of the sin of crucifying God's own Messiah, and cried out in horror, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.' This was their answer to the eager inquiry. When the Apostles went abroad among the Gentile nations, what other prescription did they ever give for attaining to God's salvation? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ:' 'believe and be baptized:' 'the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart--that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."' Last Appeal, p. 165, 166.

      13. And that this is all consistent with certain declarations of the Westminster Catechism and Confession of Faith, the following extracts show:-- [264]

      "Q. 165. What is baptism?

      "A. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein Christ hath ordained the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to be a sign and seal of ingrafting into himself; of remission of sins by his blood, and regeneration by his Spirit; of adoption, and resurrection unto everlasting life; and whereby the parties baptized are solemnly admitted into the visible church, and enter into an open and professed engagement to be wholly and only the Lord's."

      The doctrine of the Confession is more fully declared in chap. 28, sec. 1;--to which we invite attention. It is in the words following:--

      "Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party, baptized, into the visible church; but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life: which sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to be continued in his church until the end of the world."

      14. To the same effect speak other Confessions of Faith, such as--

      15. Episcopalian: The clergy are ordered, before proceeding to baptize, to make the following prayer:¹

      "Almighty and everlasting God, who, of thy great mercy, didst save Noah and his family in the Ark from perishing by water; and also didst safely lead the children of Israel, thy people, through the Red Sea; figuring thereby thy holy baptism; and by the baptism of thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ in the river Jordan, didst sanctify the element water, to the mystical washing away of sin; we beseech thee, for thine infinite mercies, that thou wilt mercifully look upon these thy servants; wash them and sanctify them with the Holy Ghost; that they, being delivered from thy wrath, may be received into the Ark of Christ's church; and being steadfast in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in charity, may so pass the waves of this troublesome world that finally, they may come to the land of everlasting life; there to reign with thee, world without end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

      After reading a part of the discourse with Nicodemus, they are ordered to make the following exhortation:² [265]

      "Beloved, ye hear in this gospel the express words of our Saviour Christ, that except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Whereby ye may perceive the great necessity of this sacrament, where it may be had. Likewise, immediately before his ascension into heaven, (as we read in the last chapter of St. Mark's Gospel,) he gave command to his disciples, saying, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned. Which also showeth unto us the great benefit we reap thereby. For which cause, St. Peter the Apostle, when, upon his first preaching of the gospel, many were pricked at the heart, and said to him and the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? replied and said unto them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost: for the promise is to you and your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words exhorted he them, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. For, as the same Apostle testifieth in another place, even baptism doth also now save us, (not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Doubt ye not, therefore, but earnestly believe that he will favourably receive these present persons, truly repenting; and coming unto him by faith; that he will grant them remission of their sins, and bestow upon them the Holy Ghost; that he will give them, the blessing of eternal life, and make them partakers of his everlasting kingdom:'

      16. The Methodist Creed says:--

      "Dearly beloved, forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin, (and that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and they that are in the flesh cannot please God, but live in sin, committing many actual transgressions:) and that our Saviour Christ saith, None shall enter into the kingdom of God, except he be regenerate and born anew of water and of the Holy Ghost; I beseech you to call upon God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, that of his bounteous goodness he will grant to these persons that which by nature they cannot have that they may be baptized with water and the Holy Ghost, and received into Christ's holy church, and be made lively members of the same."

      Then, it is ordained that the minister say, or repeat, the following prayer:--

      "Almighty and immortal God, the aid of all that need, the [266] helper of all that flee to thee for succour, the life of them that believe and the resurrection of the dead: We call upon thee for these persons, that they, coming to thy holy baptism, may receive remission of their sins, by spiritual regeneration. Receive them, O Lord, as thou hast promised by thy well-beloved Son, saying, Ask, and ye shall receive, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you; so give unto us that ask; let us that seek find; open the gate to us that knock; that these persons may enjoy the everlasting benediction of the heavenly washing, and may come to the eternal kingdom which thou hast promised by Christ our Lord. Amen." Dis. p. 105.

      17. Baptist: Chapter xxx. sec. 1--"Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptized a sign of his fellowship with him in his death and resurrection; of his being ingrafted into him; of remission of sins and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life."

      The Baptist follows the Presbyterian church as servilely as the Methodist church follows the English hierarchy. But she avows her faith that immersion is a sign of remission. A sign of the past, the present, or the future! A sign accompanying!

      18. Confession of Bohemia: "We believe that whatsoever, by baptism is in the outward ceremony signified and witnessed, all that doth the Lord God perform inwardly. That is, he washeth sway sin, begetteth a man again, and bestoweth salvation upon him: for the bestowing of these excellent fruits was holy baptism given and granted to the church."

      19. Confession of Augsburg: "Concerning baptism, they teach that it is necessary to salvation, as a ceremony ordained of Christ: also, by baptism the grace of God is offered."

      20. Confession of Saxony: I baptize thee--that is, I do witness that, by this dipping, thy sins be washed away, and that thou art now received of the true God."

      21. Confession of Wittenburg: "We believe and confess that baptism is that sea, into the bottom whereof, as the Prophet earth, God doth cast all our sins."

      22. Confession of Helvetia: "To be baptized in the name of Christ, is to be enrolled, entered, and received into the covenant. and family, and so into the inheritance of the sons of God; that is to say, to be called the sons of God to be purged also from the filthiness of sins, and to be endued with the manifold grace of God for to lead a new and innocent life."

      23. Confession of Sueveland: "As touching baptism, we confess that it is the font of regeneration, washeth away sins and saveth us. But all these things we do understand as Peter doth interpret them. 1 Peter iii. 21." [267]

      Could any thing be added confirmatory of the creeds, we should look to the great ecclesiastic fathers, such as--

      1. Barnabas, in his Catholic Epistle, chap. xi., says--"Let us now inquire whether the Lord took care to manifest any thing beforehand, concerning water and the cross. Now, for the former of these, it is written to the people of Israel, how they shall not receive that baptism which brings to forgiveness of sins; but shall institute another to themselves that cannot. For thus with the Prophet, 'Be astonished, O heavens! and let the earth tremble at it; because this people have done two great and wicked things: They have left me, the fountain of living waters, and have digged for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. Is my holy mountain, Zion, a desolate wilderness? For he shall be as a young bird when its nest is taken away.' 'Consider how he hath joined both the cross and the water together.' For this he saith: 'Blessed are they, who, putting their trust in the cross, descend into the water; for they shall have their reward in due time: then, saith he, will I give it them.' But, as concerning the present time, he saith, 'Their leaves shall not fail.' Meaning thereby, that every word that shall go out of your mouth, shall, through faith and charity, be to the conversion and hope of many. In like manner does another Prophet speak: 'And the land of Jacob was the praise of all the earth; magnifying thereby the vessels of his Spirit. And what follows? 'And there was a river running on the right hand, and beautiful trees grew up by it, and he that shall eat of them shall live for ever: The signification of which is this: that we go down into the water, full of sins and pollutions; but come up again bringing forth fruit; having in our hearts the fear and hope which are in Jesus by the Spirit: 'And whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever: That is, whosoever shall hearken to those that call them, and shall believe, shall live for ever."

      2. Hermas deposes as follows, in a work of his, called "The Commands of Hermas:"--

      "And I said to him, 'I have even now heard from certain teachers, that there is no other repentance besides that of baptism; when we go down into the water, and receive the forgiveness of sins; and after that we should sin no more, but live in purity.' And he said to me--'Thou hast been rightly informed.'"

      3. Justin Martyr wrote about forty years after John the Apostle died; and stands most conspicuous among the primitive fathers. He addressed an Apology to the Emperor Antoninus Pius. In this apology, he narrates the practices of the [268] Christians, and the reasons of them. Concerning those who are persuaded and believe the things which are taught, and who promise to live according to them, he writes:--

      "Then we bring them to some place where there is water, and they are regenerated by the name way of regeneration by which we were regenerated: for they are washed in water, (en to udati,) in the name of God the Father and Lord of all things, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit: for Christ says, 'Unless you be regenerated, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven;' and every body knows it is impossible for those who are once generated (or born) to enter again into their mother's womb."

      4. Tertullian, the first who mentions infant baptism, flourished about A. D. 216. He writes against the practice: and among his most conclusive arguments against infant immersion, (for then there was no sprinkling,) he assumes, as a fundamental principle not to be questioned, that immersion was for the remission of sins; and this being universally conceded, he argues as follows:--

      "Our Lord says, indeed, 'Do not forbid them to come to me;' therefore, let them come when they are grown up--let them come when they understand--when they are instructed whither it is that they come. Let them be made Christians when they can know Christ. What need their guiltless age make such haste to the forgiveness of sins? Men will proceed more warily in worldly goods; and he that should not have earthly goods committed to him, yet shall have heavenly! Let them know how to desire this salvation, that you may appear to have given to one that asketh." P. 74.

      5. Origen, though so great a visionary, is, nevertheless, a competent witness in any question of fact. And here I would again remind the reader, that it is as witnesses in a question of fact and not of opinion, we summon these ancients. It is not to tell their own opinions, or the reasons of them; but to depose what were the views of Christians on this institution in their times. There was no controversy on this subject for more than four hundred years; and, therefore, we only expect to find incidental allusions to it; but these are numerous, and of the most unquestionable character. Origen, in his homily upon Luke, says:--

      "Infants are baptized for the forgiveness of their sine. Of what sins? Or, when have they sinned? Or, how can any [269] reason of the law, in their case, hold good, but according to that sense that we mentioned even now? (that is) none is free from pollution, though his life be but the length of one day upon the earth."

      And in another place he says, that--

      "The baptism of the church is given for the remission of sins."

      And again--

      "If there were nothing in infants that wanted forgiveness and mercy, the grace of baptism would be needless to them."

      In another place, he says--

      "But in the regeneration, (or new birth,) by the laver, (or baptism,) every one that is born again of water and the Spirit, is clear from pollution: clear (as I may venture to say) as by a glass darkly."

      6. And as for Chrysostom, he expressly says:--

      "In baptism, or the spiritual circumcision, there is no trouble to be undergone, but to throw off the load of sins, and receive pardon for all foregoing offences."

      And again--

      "There is no receiving or having the bequeathed inheritance before one is baptized; and none can be called a son until he is baptized."

      7. Cyprian: "While," says he, "I lay in darkness and uncertainty, I thought on what I had heard of a second birth, proposed by the divine goodness, but could not comprehend how a man could receive a new life from his being immersed in water, cease to be what he was before, and still remain the same body. How, said I, can such a change be possible? How can he, who is grown old in a worldly way of living, strip himself of his former inclinations and inveterate habits? Can he, who has spent his whole time in plenty, and indulged his appetite without restraint, ever be transformed into an example of frugality and sobriety? Or he who has always appeared in splendid apparel, stoop to the plain, simple, and unadorned dress of the common people? It is impossible for a man, who has borne the most honourable posts, ever to submit to lead a private and obscure life: or, that he who was never seen in public without a crowd of attendants and persons who endeavoured to make their fortunes by attending him, should ever bear to be alone. This," continues he, "was my way of arguing: I thought it was impossible for me to leave my former course of life, and the habits [270] I was then engaged in and accustomed to; but no sooner did the life-giving water wash the spots off my soul, than my heart received the heavenly light of the Holy Spirit, which transformed me into a new creature; all my difficulties were cleared, my doubts dissolved, and my darkness dispelled. I was then able to do what before seemed impossible: could discern that my former life was earthly and sinful, according to the impurity of my birth; but that my spiritual birth gave me new ideas and inclinations, and directed all my views to God."

      Cyprian flourished A. D. 250.

      On what occasion or on what question could we, with more propriety or with more confidence than on the present, ask--"What need have we of farther testimony? We have heard the Harbinger of the Messiah and the Messiah himself; we have heard his holy Apostles and Evangelists; we have heard the primitive Apostolic church, the most venerable and reputable ecclesiastic fathers; we have heard the Hebrew church, the Greek church, the Roman church, and all Dissenting churches confess "ONE BAPTISM FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS." We have not only heard the renowned founders, reformers, and acknowledged oracles of all Protestant parties, but also have read in their own words, in the symbols, creeds, and formulas of their communion and intercommunion, their expositions and defences of Christian baptism as a sign and a seal of remission of all past sins--and again of confession and petition as the means of pardon for all sins committed after baptism. There is not only a general, but, I might say, a universal admission of the theory, with comparatively few dissentients, as respects the practice and explicit dispensation of the ordinance for this purpose.

      Some, nay many, have taught and exhibited baptism alone as an effectual mean of salvation and pardon, Hence originated infant baptism; and hence, too originated a denial of baptism or remission of sins. This is the history of the whole controversy in one sentence. The Greek and Roman churches, during their apostasy, taught baptism alone, or without faith, for remission of sins. Some of the reformed churches, while they practised the papal rite of sprinkling babes, repudiated its connection with the remission of sins; but were never able to give a good reason for this practice that did not imply such a belief.

      Baptists, too borrowing every thing from their Pedobaptist brethren but the subject and action of baptism, have reduced it [271] to a mere form of making the Christian profession--a door into their church. But when in, they harmonize in every thing with those without the pale of their communion, orthodox in their opinions of the true theory of Christian doctrine. So that, among all these parties, there is no true and scriptural dispensation of Christian baptism.

      Baptism, according to the Apostolic church, is both "a sign" and "a seal" of remission of all former sins. In this sense only does "baptism now save us." Not in putting away the filth of the flesh, but in obtaining a good conscience through faith in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This faith in our hearts is expressed in the sign of baptism, our burial and resurrection with him, indicated by an immersion in water and an emersion out of it.

      Circumcision is said to have been, in one case at least, a sign and a seal. Baptism, in the same sense, and in a similar case, is also both a sign and a seal--the sign, however, at most, is only indicative of what has been sealed. Such, indeed, are all sensible signs. The sense, we may say, is in the sign, and the confirmations in the seal. This circumcision, or cutting round, and cutting off, was a sign of the insulation or separation of Abraham and his seed from every other nation and people. But to Abraham himself, previously possessed of faith in the promised Messiah, it was also a seal, or confirmation of that faith and its rightfulness which he had experienced and expressed before he was circumcised. But such it was not to either Ishmael or Isaac. To them was a sign of their separation from other tribes, and a people, and a confirmation that they were of the seed of Abraham and heirs of Canaan, accord to a divine charter.

      Baptism, though not an antetype of a type, a sign of a sign, or a seal of a seal, as some system-makers would make it when representing it as coming in the room and standing in the stead of circumcision, is, indeed, analogous to circumcision, as the Sabbath to the Lord's day, or as the Passover to the Lord's supper, especially in this:--that in one point it is a sign of the burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and of our burial and resurrection in and with him; and, in another point of view, a seal of the righteousness of faith, or the remission of all our past sins, through faith in his blood, then, and in that act, publicly expressed and confirmed. This, most unquestionably, is [272] its place, its meaning, and importance in the Christian institution. This, and no other view of it, now entertained by professing Christians, fully expounds and exhausts all that is said of it in the Apostolic Scriptures, in the abstracts of Christian doctrine and formulas of the primitive and ancient church, as well as in the sayings and expositions of our most gifted, learned, and Christian expositors of the Christian doctrine, a few samples of which, and but a few of those in our possession, have now been presented to the reader. Yet these are, we presume to say, enough to reconcile us to such sayings as these:--"He that believes and is baptized shall be saved." "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of sins." "Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins." "The like figure corresponding thereunto, baptism doth save us," &c. &c. Not, indeed, that there is anything in the mere element of water, or in the form of placing the subject in it, or in the person that administers it, or in the formula used upon the occasion, though both good taste and piety have something to do in these particulars, but all its virtue and efficacy is in the faith and intelligence of him that receives it.

      To him that believeth and repenteth of his sins, and to none else, then, we may safely say, "be baptized for the remission of your sins," and it will surely be granted by the Lord, and enjoyed by the subject with an assurance and an evidence which the word and ordinances of the Lord alone can bestow. [273]

[CBAC 259-273]