All the means of salvation are means of enjoyment, not of procurement.
Birth itself is not for procuring, but for enjoying, the life possessed before birth. So in the
analogy:--no one is to be baptized or buried with Christ; no one is to be put under the water of
regeneration for the purpose of procuring life, but for the purpose of enjoying the life of which
he is possessed. If the child is never born, all its sensitive powers and faculties cannot be
enjoyed: for it is after birth that these are fully developed, and feasted upon all the ailments and
objects of sense in nature. Hence all that is now promised in the gospel can only be enjoyed by
those who are born again and placed in the kingdom of heaven under all its influences.
--Alexander Campbell, in The Christian System, page 283.
Next Article
Back to Number Index
Back to Volume Index
Main Index