BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 
 REFUTED, 
 
 AND 
 
 SPIRITUAL REGENERATION 
 EXPLAINED. 
 

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BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 
 
 REFUTED, 
 
 AND 
 
 SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION 
 
 EXPLAINED. 
 
 JOSEPH TURNBULL, v.d.m., ph.dr. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JAMES NISBET AND CO., 
 
 BERNERS STREET, OXFORD STREET ; 
 
 R. B. BLACKADER AND CO., 
 
 ALDINE CHAMBERS, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1854. 
 
.# 
 
 BAPTISMAL REGENERATION, ' 
 
 •* Ye must be born again." — John iii. 7. 
 
 NicoDEMUs, to whom these words were 
 addressed by Jesus, though a person of 
 distinction among the Jews, was startled 
 at the doctrine which they contain. He 
 took them in a literal sense, whereas our 
 Lord employed them figuratively. For 
 this ignorance he was reprehended : — 
 " Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest 
 not these things ?" If the common people 
 were ignorant of the Scriptures, and the 
 fundamental doctrines of religion, it was 
 surprising that their teachers should be 
 equally ignorant. The censure on Nico- 
 demus implies, that he had the means of 
 
knowing this truth, that '^ a man must be 
 born again, or he cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven.^' If so, we should 
 expect to find the doctrine somewhere 
 revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures. Hence, 
 in the penitential Psalm of David (li. 5), 
 he says : — " Behold, I was shapen in ini- 
 quity, and in sin did my mother conceive 
 me,'' " Create in me a clean heart, O 
 God, and renew a right spirit within meJ" 
 Job had before said : — " Who can bring a 
 clean thing out of an unclean ? not one'' 
 (ch. xiv. 4.) The Lord promises this 
 desired blessing, saying by the prophet 
 Ezekiel, " A new heart will I give you, 
 and a new spirit will I put within you : 
 and I tvill take aivay the stony heart out 
 of your flesh, and I will give you a heart 
 of flesh ; and I will put my spirit within 
 you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, 
 and ye shall keep my judgments and do 
 them'' (chapter xxxvi. 26, 27.) Also, 
 by the prophet Jeremiah, ^^ Behold the 
 days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
 
make a new covenant with the house of 
 Israel, and with the house of Judah : — / 
 will put my law in their inward parts, and 
 write it in their hearts ; and I will be 
 their God, and they shall be my people." 
 
 These and other similar expressions 
 intimate the doctrine of regeneration^ in- 
 sisted upon by our Lord. From this 
 source, Nicodemus and his brethren might 
 have known the truth, of which they 
 were ignorant : or, at least, it might have 
 prevented that obtuse misunderstanding, 
 which led the Jewish Rabbi to ask : — 
 '' How can a man be born when he is old ; 
 can he enter a second time into his mother's 
 womb, and be born ?'' 
 
 But, it is said by the learned, in illus- 
 tration of our text and its connexion, 
 that it was the custom of the Jews, at 
 that time, to receive their proselytes from 
 the heathen, not only by circumcision and 
 sacrifice, but by baptism ; the convert 
 being completely bathed in water; and, 
 after this ceremony, that he was denomi- 
 
6 
 
 iiated a new man ; that he was said to 
 have undergone a new birth, and to have 
 commenced a new Ufe. To this practice, 
 it is said, our Lord alluded, when he told 
 Nicodemus : — " Except a man be born of 
 water and the spirit, he cannot enter into 
 the kingdom of God.'' Consequently, 
 that the regeneration, or second birth, so 
 solemnly insisted upon by our Lord, was 
 simply Christian baptism : i.e., " Except 
 a man be baptized he cannot be saved." 
 
 Not to dwell, for the present, on the 
 improbability of such a meaning, we may 
 safely conclude that no such custoai, or, 
 at least, that no such expressions con- 
 nected with it, could have been in use at 
 the time in Jerusalem, on the reception 
 of converts to the Jewish religion : for, 
 had it been so, and had our Lord meant 
 to refer to it, doubtless Nicodemus would, 
 at once, have perceived his allusion, and 
 would have understood him to speak figu- 
 ratively. When our Lord said : — " Ye 
 must be born again;'' he would have 
 
7 
 
 asked, — " Dost thou mean that we must 
 be baptized with water to become Chris- 
 tians, as the Heathen are to become 
 Jews ?" And to this our Lord would 
 have assented, and there all difficulty, 
 all mystery, and all misunderstanding 
 would have ceased. In that case, Nico- 
 demus could never have made so gross a 
 mistake as to suppose that our Lord 
 meant to affirm that an old man must 
 actually become an infant, or rather that 
 he must somehow enter a second time 
 into his mother's w^omb to be born again. 
 But the difficulty plainly arises from the 
 novelty of the expressions, and hence 
 they were taken erroneously in a literal 
 sense. 
 
 We do not mean, however, to deny 
 that the Jews, in subsequent times, did 
 practise such a ceremony, and use such 
 expressions ; but we do not find^ after ex- 
 amination, sufficient evidence from Scrip- 
 ture or antiquity, that it was done in the 
 time of our Lord. If so, he had no allu- 
 
8 
 
 sion to Jewish baptism, when he said : — 
 ^^ Ye must be born again/' 
 
 But it is said by some, that our Lord 
 certainly did allude to Christian baptism, 
 under this figurative expression. They 
 contend that regeneration is Christian 
 baptism. " Baptism/^ says Bishop Je- 
 remy Taylor, " is a new birth, by which 
 we enter into the new world, the new 
 creation, the blessings and spiritualities 
 of the kingdom.^^ According to this 
 school of theology, the only true literal 
 interpretation of our text is: — "Ye must 
 be baptized.^^ Our Lord^s solemn asse- 
 veration must then be rendered : — " Ve- 
 rily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man 
 be baptized, he cannot see the kingdom 
 of God.^^ " Marvel not that I said unto 
 thee, ye must be baptized. The wind 
 bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest 
 the sound thereof, but canst not tell 
 whence it cometh, or whither it goeth: 
 so is every one that is baptized." " Ni- 
 codemus answered, how can these things 
 
be }" And, if our Lord had meant this, 
 well might he wonder ! It was indeed 
 strange that to see the kingdom of God, 
 a man must be baptized. For, if by 
 "the kingdom of God" here, be meant 
 the Gospel dispensation, surely a man 
 might see this first, and be baptized after- 
 ward. 
 
 Inconsistent and improbable, however, 
 as this interpretation is, it is adopted by 
 many as the doctrine of Christ, both 
 among Protestants and Romanists. If 
 they differ in circumstantials, they agree 
 in essentials. This doctrine of baptismal 
 regeneration is the prime element of their 
 system ; for thereby all infants of a week 
 old if rightly baptized, according to the 
 form prescribed, and by the right minister, 
 are immediately constituted " children of 
 God, and heirs of the kingdom of hea- 
 ven." 
 
 Here, then, we are at issue. Is it, or 
 is it not the doctrine of Christ, that 
 baptism is regeneration, or that it is "^ the 
 
10 
 
 instrument of regeneration^^ in the hands 
 of the Holy Spirit ? We affirm that this 
 doctrine is not of God, but of man ; a 
 human invention which has long been 
 applied for advancing the selfish and un- 
 worthy purposes of worldly men, mis- 
 called the ministers of Christ ; and has, 
 too long, deceived and enslaved, and, we 
 fear destroyed, the souls of multitudes, 
 trusting in its truth and efficacy. 
 
 With a view to confute this erroneous 
 doctrine, we observe : — 
 
 I. That the New Testament guards us 
 against considering baptism as a saving 
 ordinance. 
 
 In truth, there is no ordinance saving. 
 It is, however, an error, as ancient as the 
 times of the Apostles, to convert a divine 
 ordinance given only for instruction and 
 edification, into a mysterious condition of 
 salvation. Such was the error of some of 
 the Jewish converts to Christianity, of 
 whom we read in the Acts of the Apostles 
 (ch. XV. 1), that they came from Judeea to 
 

 
 / 
 
 Antioch, in Syria, and taught tbe brethren/ 
 saying, — " Except ye be circumcised after 
 the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved/^ 
 This doctrine, however, was merely their 
 own invention : it was opposed by the 
 Apostles, with all their might, and dis- 
 owned by the Apostles at Jerusalem, to 
 whom the question was referred. 
 
 The principle, thus renounced and 
 opposed, was, notwithstanding, applied to 
 Christian ordinances: it met with many 
 supporters, and became the embryo of 
 that apostacy, which, at length, reached 
 its frightful and monstrous maturity in 
 the Papal ^^ Man of sin/^ Hence, bap- 
 tism and the Lord's Supper w^ere adopted 
 as substitutes for the circumcision and 
 sacrifice of the Jews ; and the spirit and 
 doctrine of the self-righteous Pharisee, 
 took a Christian form. This was the 
 original and the most powerful operating 
 cause of the corruption of Christianity, 
 in the first ages of our faith. Hence it 
 became the custom to baptize infants 
 
12 
 
 immediately after their birth^ lest, dying 
 without baptism, they should be lost: 
 and, as such saving efficacy was consi- 
 dered to reside in the ordinance of 
 baptism, it was thought that equal, if not 
 greater efficacy was contained in the 
 Lord^s Supper : that ordinance was, 
 therefore, administered to infants, as well 
 as to adults, under the notion that there 
 was a conversion of the bread and the 
 wine into the very body and blood of our 
 Lord and Saviour: consequently, that 
 their salvation was rendered doubly sure, 
 first, by the regeneration of the Holy 
 Spirit in baptism, and next by receiving 
 the Saviour himself into them in partaking 
 of the " Eucharist.'' 
 
 These inconsistencies arose from ignor- 
 ance of the nature and intention of those 
 ordinances. They misunderstood or per- 
 verted the words of Christ ; first, in his 
 declaration to Nicodemus : — " Except a 
 man be born of water and the spirit, 
 he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 
1.3 
 
 God/^ This was interpreted, — "Except 
 you are baptized you cannot be saved :*^ 
 next, his saying to the Jews : — " Except 
 ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and 
 drink his blood, you have no life in you." 
 This was interpreted to mean : — " Except 
 you partake of the Lord^s Supper, you 
 cannot be saved /^ The inference was 
 that salvation is secured by baptism and 
 the Lord^s Supper. They were regarded, 
 therefore, as saving ordinances, and in- 
 dispensable to our salvation. 
 
 Our Lord, however, in the second case, 
 guarded his own expressions against this 
 perversion, by saying to those who under- 
 stood him literally : — " The words which 
 I speak unto you they are spirit and they 
 are life ;" i.e., " I have a lively, spiritual 
 meaning in what I say." Beside, the 
 Lord's Supper was not instituted when 
 these words were spoken, nor was there 
 any intimation that it would be : and it 
 seems very unlikely that our Lord should 
 insist upon a nonentity as the absolute 
 
14 
 
 condition of salvation. Moreover, many 
 of those who heard him, and might have 
 been willing to comply with this condi- 
 tion — supposing it intended — might have 
 died before our Lord had made it natur- 
 ally possible to obey it. In that case, 
 they would have perished for ever, from 
 his delay in the institution of that or- 
 dinance, which he had notwithstanding 
 made indispensable for their salvation. 
 So that, however Pope Innocent the 
 First, and after him Augustine, and many 
 more, have so understood the words »of 
 Christ, their opinion must be weighed in 
 the balance of sound reason, and not be 
 blindly adopted because of its antiquity 
 or authority. 
 
 As to baptism, the Apostle Peter has 
 taken care, under inspiration, to guard 
 us against considering tins ordinance as 
 saving. In his first general Epistle (ch. 
 iii. 21), he says: — "The like figure even 
 baptism doth now save us ; not the 
 
 PUTTING AWAY OF THE FILTH OF THE 
 
15 
 
 FLESH^ but the answer (or stipulation) 
 of a good conscience beford God/^ Here 
 we have a direct negative of the Holy 
 Spirit upon the doctrine of baptismal 
 regeneration. Foreseeing that this error 
 would arise — if it had not already been 
 broached — he instructs us^ that there is 
 no saving efficacy in the outward act and 
 form of baptism ; and that whatever is 
 saving in the rite is entirely spiritual^ and 
 consists of a mental vow of obedience 
 to the will of God ; or in other words, 
 of a sincere dedication of the person to 
 the service of God. This is the baptism, 
 which is saving, and which is equivalent 
 to the faith, which is the instrumental 
 cause of our salvation. Now this mental 
 operation may certainly exist without any 
 external rite performed : and, on the 
 other hand, the rite may be performed, 
 without the mental operation. It is clear 
 that a person may be baptized, merely in 
 compliance with custom, or from defer- 
 ence to authority, or from personal in- 
 
16 
 
 terest, or from fear of consequences, with- 
 out any such inward feelings as the 
 Apostle Peter says are saving. 
 
 If, therefore, we are to attribute salva- 
 tion to baptism, it is not in the sense 
 which they do, who advocate the doctrine 
 of baptismal regeneration. We are to 
 distinguish with the Apostle Peter, be- 
 tween the outward act and the inward; 
 between that which is saving, and that 
 which is not. V^e shall find many bap- 
 tized infidels, and many unbaptized be- 
 lievers ; many baptized sinners, and many 
 unbaptized saints ; many of the baptized 
 lost for ever, and many of the unbaptized 
 saved for ever. Our Lord himself in- 
 timates that persons baptized may be 
 lost, by saying, — " He that believe th and 
 is baptized, shall be saved, and he that 
 believeth not shall be damned.^^ He does 
 not say, — ^^ He that believeth not, and is 
 not baptized, shall be damned.^^ He 
 makes the real condition of salvation to 
 consist in faith, which, if genuine, is the 
 
17 
 
 instrumental, not the meritorious cause of 
 our salvation. 
 
 But it will be said^ does not the Apostle 
 Paul, in the Epistle to Titus (eh. iii. 5), 
 declare that God " saved us by the wash- 
 ing of regeneration and renewing of the 
 Holy Ghost^ which he shed on us abund- 
 antly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour?" 
 " It is evident/^ says an advocate for 
 baptismal regeneration,* ^^that baptism 
 is here represented as the mean through 
 which, or the instrument by which, the 
 Holy Spirit of God regenerates us, and 
 thereby makes us heirs of eternal life." 
 
 Now, we must aver, that this is by 
 no means " evident ;" for, first, baptism 
 is not mentioned at all, though the word, 
 loutron, rendered washing, is generally 
 supposed to refer to that rite. But, 
 surely, the Apostle might have employed 
 this term figuratively, to represent the 
 
 * Dr. Mant's " Discourses on Regeneration and 
 Conversion," p. 29. 
 
 b2 
 
18 
 
 spiritual purification which is iiiipUed in 
 regeneration. Admitting, however, that 
 he has an allusion to baptism, the word 
 ''and'' may as properly be rendered 
 ''even;" and then ^'the washing of re- 
 generation is explained to be, '' the re- 
 newing of the Holy Spirit,'^ which is a 
 just description of the mental change pro- 
 duced by regeneration. But, if the Apos- 
 tle had baptism in view, there is no 
 reason to think that he meant to confine 
 this change to the performance of the 
 rite ; for this would be to contradict all 
 the facts of the Gospel history, and the 
 whole tenour of the New Testament. We 
 observe, therefore, 
 
 II. That Scripture never informs us 
 of baptism being the medium of regener- 
 ation, i.e., "the renewing of the Holy 
 Spirit.^' 
 
 This renovation may in general terms 
 be descri])ed as " Repentance toward God, 
 and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 (Acts XX. 21.) Let us, then, advert to 
 
19 
 
 some of the instances on record in the 
 Gospel, wherein this change was effected, 
 and we shall see that it preceded baptism, 
 consequently, baptism was not the medium 
 of producing it. 
 
 On the day of Pentecost, addressing 
 the multitude, who were smitten with 
 remorse for the part they had taken in 
 the crucifixion of the Lord, and who 
 inquired, "What shall we do ?^^ the 
 Apostle Peter says to 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 gift of 
 the Holy Ghost." "Then they who 
 gladly received his word, were baptized." 
 Here the mental change of repentance 
 and faith, evidently preceded the act of 
 baptism. 
 
 The same may be observed of the 
 Eunuch of Ethiopia, to whom the Evange- 
 list Phihp was directed by the Holy Spirit, 
 to instruct him in the Gospel. (Acts 
 viii. 36.) " And as they went on their 
 
20 
 
 way, they came to a certain water^ and 
 the Eunuch said. See, here is water, 
 what doth hinder me to be baptized ? 
 And PhiHp said, If thou beUevest with 
 all thy heart, thou mayest; and he an- 
 swered and said, I believe that Jesus 
 Christ is the Son of God/' Then, "he 
 baptized him." Here " the renewing 
 of the Holy Spirit" operating in the way 
 of faith in Jesus, clearly preceded the 
 act of baptism. That rite did not com- 
 municate to the Eunuch the grace of 
 faith. The baptism was suspended, until 
 it was ascertained that this grace of re- 
 generation had been already given. The 
 baptism, therefore, served some other 
 purposes, which we cannot here enu- 
 merate. 
 
 These instances are sufficient to show 
 that baptism was not the medium of con- 
 veying the gifts of faith and repentance ; 
 and it may also be shown that baptism 
 was not the medium of conveying the 
 extraordinary or miraculous gifts, which 
 
21 
 
 distinguished the first age of Christi- 
 anity. 
 
 Thus, when the Apostle Paul found 
 certain disciples at Ephesus, (Acts xix. 
 1 — 6,) who had not heard of the miracu- 
 lous gifts, having been initiated only by 
 the baptism of John, *^they were bap- 
 tized into the name of the Lord Jesus/^ 
 " Andwiien Paul had laid his hands upon 
 them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, 
 and they spake in tongues and prophe- 
 sied/^ Here the medium of communicat- 
 ing the gifts was not the baptism ; that 
 had been performed i it was done by the 
 laying on of the apostle's hands. This 
 took place after the baptism. But in the 
 case of Cornelius, (Acts x. 44 — 48,) the 
 same gifts were granted before baptism. 
 While the apostle Peter was speaking of 
 Christ, and saying ; " to him give all the 
 prophets witness that through his name, 
 whosoever believeth in him shall receive 
 remission of sins," "the Holy Ghost fell 
 on all them who heard the word." The 
 
22 
 
 Jewish converts who accompanied Peter 
 were '' astonished because that on the 
 Gentiles also was poured out the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost ; for they heard them 
 speak in tongues, and magnify God. 
 Then answered Peter, can any man for- 
 bid water, that these should not be bap- 
 tized, who have received the Holy Ghost, 
 as well as we ? And he commanded them 
 to be baptized in the name of the Lord." 
 What can be more ^^ evident ? " If, 
 as the advocates of baptismal regenera- 
 tion insist, baptism were the medium of 
 communicating either the ordinary or ex- 
 traordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, we 
 should have found some evidence of it in 
 these facts ; but we find no such evi- 
 dence : on the contrary, baptism is con- 
 sidered to be so secondary, that, in the 
 case of Cornelius and his friends, the 
 apostle does not even perform the rite 
 himself, but only commands it to be done 
 by others, and that on the ground of the 
 new converts having already received the 
 
23 
 
 Holy Spirit. If it had been the will of 
 God, that baptism should be the exclu- 
 sive medium of conveyins: the gifts of his 
 Spirit, he would have made it so to ap- 
 pear in these narratives. We should have 
 had a clear view of the fact. We should 
 have been told of the descent of the Spirit, 
 while the act of baptism was being per- 
 formed. The rite would have made the 
 most prominent figure in the picture, in- 
 stead of being placed, as it really is, in 
 the back ground. 
 
 The fact is, that the preacJdng and mi- 
 nistry of the apostles were the great in- 
 strument which the Holy Spirit employed 
 for the communication of his gifts. It 
 was their doctrine which he sealed with 
 his approbation. " Faith came,^^ not by 
 baptism, but " by hearing, and hearing 
 by the word of God." The apostles laid 
 no undue stress on the mere rite of bap- 
 tism. If it had been the uniform and 
 only medium of conveying regenerating 
 grace, they would have made as much of 
 
24 
 
 it, as those do who maintain that error. 
 We should not hear the great apostle of 
 the Gentiles saying : " I thank God I 
 baptized none of you, but Crispus and 
 Gains, for Christ sent me not to baptize, 
 but to preach the Gospel." (1 Cor. i. 14.) 
 
 If baptism had been the sole medium 
 of that grace, as is pretended, the apostle 
 would have been anxious to baptize as 
 many as possible, and would have thanked 
 God for so doing ; and he could never 
 have thanked God that he had baptized 
 so few ! But it seems " the successors 
 of the apostles " are wiser than the apos- 
 tles, and are possessed of more power ! 
 
 Having thus argued the point from the 
 evidence of the Holy Scriptures^ we can 
 find no ground for the doctrine of bap- 
 tismal regeneration. It is true, that se- 
 veral places of Scripture are perverted to 
 support that tenet. We are told that 
 nothing can be more plain than that our 
 Lord meant to say to Nicodemus by the 
 words, ^^ Except a man be born of water 
 
and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of God," that he must be rege- 
 nerated by the Holy Spirit in Christian 
 baptism. Now we readily admit that our 
 Lord meant to say, that a man must be 
 regenerated by the Holy Spirit, or he 
 cannot be saved ; but we deny that there 
 is any evidence that he meant to assert 
 that baptism is the only, or even the 
 usual medium of that divine grace. We 
 are not to imagine our Lord could have 
 no other meaning than that which will 
 serve the purpose of supporting a doctrine, 
 which both He and His apostles elsewhere 
 deny. 
 
 Let it then be observed on this text, 
 that an exact translation of the Greek 
 would make it as necessary to be born of 
 air, as of water, in order to be saved ; for 
 the word pneiwia, is without the article 
 which is required to make it definite in 
 4ts application to the Holy Spirit. The 
 exact translation of the text is : " Unless 
 any one be born from water and air, he 
 c 
 
26 
 
 is not able to enter into the kingdom of 
 God." We are surprised at these expres- 
 sions^ and so was Nicodemus. The lan- 
 guage is highly figurative and required 
 explanation. That explanation was given, 
 and our Lord, interpreting His own figure, 
 tells us that we must be born " from the 
 Spirit" of God; that we must undergo 
 such a spiritual change, as is equal to a 
 second birth. The Holy Spirit, as the 
 great agent in effecting this change, is in- 
 troduced afte7^ the disputed text, in order 
 to explain what was meant by this new 
 birth ; and, if we consider the nature of 
 those elements by which this spiritual 
 change was signified, in the first informa- 
 tion given to Nicodemus, we shall find 
 that the water and the air are fit symbols 
 of the purification of the soul, in which 
 regeneration consists. 
 
 If then we are required to be born of 
 wafer and also of air, why not insist on 
 the necessity of pneumatic regeneration, as 
 well as of baptismal regeneration ? Surely 
 
there must be an essential defect in the 
 baptism of water alone, as administered 
 by those who insist on a literal interpre- 
 tation of the word, water ^ and deny it to 
 the word, air, which is so closely connected 
 with it, and forms as essential a part of 
 the regeneration. Their baptism surely 
 would be much more consistent and, ac- 
 cording to their interpretation, much more 
 efl'ectual, if the priest were to add some 
 holy breath with the holy ivater ! If he 
 were to breathe on the baptized, which 
 is exactly what the Romish priests do in 
 baptism, and say : " Receive thou the 
 Holy Ghost ! " We insist on a imeuma- 
 tic regeneration as well as an aquatic, if 
 the words are to be taken literally ; and, 
 if we are put off with a flimsy assertion, 
 that, in this text, our Lord meant to say, 
 that the water of baptism is the instru- 
 ment of regeneration. For this interpre- 
 tation, however, we may probably be 
 branded as enthusiasts and fanatics, as 
 we are for maintaining the doctrine of 
 
28 
 
 spiritual, in opposition to baptismal re- 
 generation. But those are alone answer- 
 able for the real enthusiasm and fanaticism 
 who maintain the doctrine of baptismal 
 regeneration. Such was the opinion of 
 the late Reverend Mr. Simeon of Cam- 
 bridge, as expressed in his work entitled 
 " An appeal to men of wisdom and can- 
 dour." '^ Which," says he, " has the 
 preference in point of sobriety; the doc- 
 trine of a new and spiritual birth, by the 
 operation of the Spirit of God, or that of 
 baptism being the new birth ? It is ob- 
 jected to the former doctrine that it is 
 enthusiastic and accompanied with many 
 absurd and baleful errors ; viz. : that its 
 advocates insist on sudden impulses, 
 which irresistibly, and without any co-ope- 
 ration on our parts, at some particular 
 time, that may at all subsequent periods 
 be referred to, convert the soul to God. 
 Now we have denied that the advocates 
 for the new birth give any such represen- 
 tation of it, or that it is, in its own nature, 
 
29 
 
 associated with any such things. But 
 now observe the doctrine of our adver- 
 saries^ viz : of those who identify baptism 
 with a new birth : it is curious to observe 
 to what an extent they fall into the very 
 errors, which they impute to us. They 
 say that we are born again in baptism ; 
 consequently, they, first, make our new 
 birth, sudden : next, they make it irresist- 
 ible, for the child cannot withstand the 
 power of the priest. Next they would 
 make it without any co-operatio7i on our 
 part, for the child is wholly passive. 
 Next, they make it arbitrary, according 
 to the will of man, who may hasten or 
 delay it, or prevent it, exactly as he 
 pleases : whereas it is said of all Chris- 
 tians, that they are ^born, not of blood, 
 nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will 
 of man, but of God.' Next, they make 
 it so determinable iii point of time, that 
 not the person himself only, but the whole 
 world, also may know it, by consulting 
 the parish register ! And, lastly, they are 
 c 2 
 
30 
 
 assured of it, not only without any evi- 
 dence at all, but in the very face of all 
 imaginable evidence to the contrary ! 
 Who, I would ask, are the enthusiasts 
 now ? I will further ask, whether the 
 wildest fanatic that can be found at this 
 day in Christendom, entertains notions 
 half so fanatical as these ? " 
 
 III. Matter of fact undeniably proves 
 that regeneration is not communicated 
 by baptism. 
 
 If, indeed, baptism be regeneration, 
 then, of course, all the baptized are rege- 
 nerated. But we have shown that in the 
 Scriptural sense of the term, baptism is 
 not regeneration; and now we say, that 
 the characters of those baptized, do, in 
 multitudes of instances prove, that they 
 have never been regenerated, i.e., renewed 
 by the Holy Spirit. It is inconceivable 
 that the Holy Spirit should reside in the 
 hearts of the profane, the licentious, the 
 false, the cruel, the malicious, the covet- 
 ous. Yet multitudes of such persons 
 
31 
 
 have been baptized in their infancy, and 
 by the doctrine now controverted, have 
 been born again in the hkeness of God, 
 and are therefore '^ children of God and 
 heirs of the kingdom of heaven." This 
 anomaly is accounted for by Dr. Mant, 
 who says : " Those are regenerated to 
 whom baptism is rightly administered, 
 notwithstanding by their future conduct, 
 they may forfeit the privileges of their 
 new birth.* And that the "privilege of 
 salvation bestowed by God through the 
 ordinance of baptism, is continued, if they 
 grow up in faith and obedience ; if not, it 
 is taken away from them till they re- 
 pent." f 
 
 Wherever this doctrine may have been 
 discovered, it is certainly not derived from 
 the Holy Scripture. That never represents 
 God as versatile and capricious, and the 
 salvation of His children as precarious. 
 
 * Page 7, of Discourses on Regeueiatioii, 
 - Ibid, p. 17. 
 
:V2 
 
 It uniformly teaches that salvation is of 
 grace, and not of works ; and that the 
 person whom God once calls or adopts, 
 He intends finally to save : thus the 
 Apostle Paul declares (Rom. viii. 29, 30,) 
 that, "Those whom God foreknew. He 
 also did predestinate to be conformed to 
 the image of His Son, that He might be 
 the first born among many brethren. 
 Moreover, whom He did predestinate, 
 them He also called; and whom He 
 called, thjem He also justified, and whom 
 he justified, them He also glorified.'' 
 Here is a chain of divine actions, 
 reaching from the purpose to the com- 
 pletion. Jf baptism be included in it, 
 with all the grace and efficacy imputed 
 to it by our opponents, then, it is either 
 not so effectual as they say, or else God 
 justifies and saves men in their sins. 
 Moreover, the doctrine above quoted 
 makes salvation to depend wholly on the 
 tvill of the individual. If saved, he is 
 entitled to salvation by his oivn merit. If 
 
33 
 
 lost, he has forfeited the privilege of salva^ 
 Hon by not growing up in faith and obe- 
 dience. Surely this is any thing but Chris- 
 tianity ! Christ has no place in this system ! 
 A form, a chance, a charm, may save or 
 destroy a soul ! On this system we might 
 expect that more souls would be lost than 
 saved. And facts appear to correspond. 
 How few men who have been baptized in 
 their infancy grow up to lead a serious, re- 
 ligious life. The great bulk of those called 
 Christians, are really men of the world, 
 devoted either to gain or pleasure. Do 
 you see the greater number of baptized 
 men in the church on the Sabbath ? Do 
 you find them at the communion of the 
 Lord's Supper? Will they even endure 
 serious Christian conversation and so- 
 ciety ? Yet these have all been " born 
 again " in their infancy ; they were all 
 God's adopted children — all " heirs of the 
 kingdom of heaven !" The Holy Spirit 
 had entered into them to make them such ; 
 but He has left them, it appears, to their 
 
34 
 
 own wayward course: He is gone and has 
 carried away from them *^ the privilege of 
 salvation," which he had conferred : they 
 may have been confirmed in the possession 
 of that privilege by Episcopal authority ; 
 but, a short time after that " confirma- 
 tion," they became presumptuous and 
 self-willed, and the Holy Spirit could no 
 longer prevail with them to be saved. 
 He has left them to the world, the flesh, 
 and the devil, till they repent : then he 
 will return, and bring back the " privilege 
 of salvation." But, if they should die, 
 impenitent, and " in their sins," then the 
 regenerated children of God, the '^ heirs of 
 the kingdom of heaven " are lost for 
 ever ; — unless there be a purgatory, as 
 feigned by the Romanists, who also 
 hold this doctrine of baptismal regenera- 
 tion. Who can believe such contradic- 
 tions ? 
 
 These apostates, however, may repent 
 before they die ; then the Holy Spirit 
 will return. But is not repentance itself 
 
35 
 
 a divine gift ? Is not Christ said by an 
 apostle to be "exalted a Prince and a 
 Saviour to give repentance and forgiveness 
 of sins ? (Acts v. 31.) And as the Holy 
 Spirit is the agent in regeneration, so 
 must He be in the restoration. These 
 lapsed children of God cannot be restored, 
 but by that repentance, ^^ which it is the 
 peculiar province of the Spirit of God to 
 impart." Yet we are told that " He 
 leaves them until they repent, and begin 
 a new life of faith and obedience :" then 
 He is induced to return to them with 
 ^' the privilege of salvation." But if the 
 Holy Spirit has left them because of their 
 impenitence, how can it be expected that 
 He will return to them, when he sees 
 them still in the same state ? The cause 
 of this departure cannot be the induce- 
 ment for his return. And yet in that 
 lost state must they remain, unless he re- 
 turn : for " the Ethiopian cannot change 
 his skin, nor the leopard his spots." 
 According to this doctrine, their case is 
 
36 
 
 hopeless : they are lost beyond recovery. 
 The Holy Spirit is indeed waiting for 
 their " repentance " to reward them, with 
 the forfeited "privilege of salvation;" 
 but they are both unable and unwilling 
 to make the first movement : and unless 
 they move first, the Holy Spirit will re- 
 main inexorable. Their salvation is thus 
 impossible ! 
 
 Where then is the great benefit of bap- 
 tismal regeneration ? What does it effect 
 upon the real character ? How easily 
 may any spiritual benefit supposed to be 
 connected with it^ be lost ! What great 
 value can we set on a thing so fugitive 
 and uncertain ? Why so strenuous for a 
 doctrine, which, after all, is attended with 
 so little real saving efficacy ? Show the 
 lives of the baptized, in general, harmoniz- 
 ing with the doctrine, and we shall then 
 begin to think it may be true. But while 
 there is so dreadful a discrepancy between 
 them, we must be blindfolded by interest 
 or prejudice if we yield to its claims. 
 
37 
 
 But it may be replied : ^^ This is un- 
 charitable^ to suppose that so many Chris- 
 tians^ regenerated persons, children of 
 God^ members of Christ and heirs of the 
 kingdom of heaven^ should be finally 
 lost ! " This, however, is no supposition, 
 but an inevitable consequence from the 
 premises. The apostate has driven away 
 the Holy Spirit from him and has lost 
 ^^ the privilege of salvation : " he can 
 never regain it without the repulsed Deity 
 shall return to him. The apostate can- 
 not, because he will not, return, and yet 
 he must make the first move ! Are these 
 forces not in equilibrio ? Is there not an 
 eternal barrier to their coalition ? If 
 the Holy Spirit w^ere to move first, he 
 needs never to have removed at all : be- 
 cause he might have by his presence com- 
 pleted the intention of the baptismal re- 
 generation. But he is gone, and how is he 
 to be brought back again ? Those are the 
 uncharitable, Vvho thus consign men, who 
 have ^' not grown up in faith and obe- 
 
 D 
 
38 
 
 dience^" to eternal perdition, and make 
 their salvation contingent upon an impos- 
 sible condition !• Miserable theology ! 
 Happy are they who are better instructed ! 
 Having thus refuted the erroneous 
 doctrine, let us now more distinctly es- 
 tablish the true. What is it to be "born 
 again ? " 
 
 As this language is figurative. We must 
 consider what it is intended to represent. 
 Birth implies a previous formation of the 
 human being in an embryo state, with all 
 its faculties and members, but not in a 
 state of perfection. It is a human body, 
 and a human soul united in one person, 
 and is therefore constituted an intellectual, 
 moral and practical being. As it is born, 
 its nature is depraved, from its connexion 
 with the first parents of our race. It is 
 therefore necessary that it should be 
 ^^born again." Now, the second birth 
 must correspond to the first. The inten- 
 tion of the second birth is to correct the 
 depravity of the first : if, in the first birth, 
 
39 
 
 the intellectual fsLCulties are depraved, this 
 is to restore them to their proper tone : 
 if the moral are corrupt, this is to purify 
 them : if the pi^actical are wayward and 
 wrong, this is to rectify them, according 
 to a perfect standard. 
 
 Now the nature of this change, it is 
 evident, does not apply so much to infants 
 just born, as to those, at least, advancing 
 to adult age. I do not say that it is im- 
 possible it should apply to new-born 
 infants ; but, as the Gospel was, at first, 
 addressed to adults, who were the first 
 persons converted by it ; and, as we are 
 not at all informed in the Holy Scripture 
 of any regeneration taking place in in- 
 fants, we are not warranted to apply the 
 process to them. We must confine our 
 attention to the case of adults, or to those 
 who are advancing to some development 
 of their natural powers and faculties. It 
 would be better to consider Nicodemus 
 himself as a specimen of a person who 
 had need to be " born again when he is 
 d2 
 
40 
 
 old." How can this be ? We answer, 
 such a change may take place in the ivhole 
 man.) by the special grace and power of 
 the Holy Spirit, as shall make him " a 
 new man in Christ Jesus." 
 
 1st. His imderstanding shall be en- 
 lightened. 
 
 The mind of man is so beclouded by ig- 
 norance and prejudice, that it is unable, 
 without this change, to discern the simple 
 truths of the Gospel. They are very ex- 
 traordinary in their nature ', and, though 
 they may be stated in a few sentences, 
 they contain all the purposes of God re- 
 specting the human race, and his peculiar 
 mode of salvation by the substitution of 
 the innocent for the guilty in the person 
 of our Divine Lord and Saviour, Jesus 
 Christ. '^ Great indeed, is the mystery 
 of Godliness ! " And clear and strong 
 must be the eye to penetrate it. The 
 man of science will not discern it in na- 
 ture : the student will not meet with it in 
 polite literature : the men of business 
 
and of pleasure will not perceive this 
 mystery in their pursuits : and even the 
 theologian may be so filled with pride 
 and prejudice, as to require this change 
 to pass on his understanding and his 
 heart, before he shall be able to " see the 
 kingdom of God " as it is in Christ. It 
 is not a mind naturally acute and culti- 
 vated by art to a high extent of intellec- 
 tual power that is, of itself, able to fathom 
 these Divine mysteries : on the contrary, 
 many such individuals have been known 
 violently to oppose the truths of the 
 Gospel. The great apostle of the Gentiles 
 is an eminent instance of this blind and 
 furious enmity to the truth. His educa- 
 tion, liberal in some respects as it was, 
 only contributed to his prejudices ; and 
 he confesses that he did not then under- 
 stand the nature and purpose of the law 
 of God. Hence his opposition to Christ. 
 His opinion was, that salvation was to be 
 attained by a strict observance of the law; 
 and thus, like many others, " he went 
 d3 
 
42 
 
 about to establish his own righteousness." 
 But when he came to perceive that 
 ^^ Christ is the end of the law for righ- 
 teousness to every one that believeth/' 
 and that his own righteousness was worth- 
 less as a meritorious cause of the Divine 
 favour^ he then cordially embraced and 
 zealously preached that Divine method of 
 salvation which, in his ignorant prejudice, 
 he had wished to overthrow. This com- 
 plete change in his views was the conse- 
 quence of a Divine influence on his mind, 
 leading him to see his error and to discern 
 the truth ; and hence he became " a new 
 man in Christ Jesus." He was "created 
 anew/' as he himself expresses it, which 
 is but another phrase for regeneration. 
 He had received from God a spiritual dis- 
 cernment, without which he would have 
 proceeded in his infuriated opposition to 
 the Gospel ; for he himself lays it do^^Ti 
 as a universal truth, that, " the natural 
 man receive th not the things of the Spirit 
 of God, for they are foolishness to him. 
 
43 
 
 and he cannot know them because they 
 are spiritually discerned. But he who is 
 spiritual discerns all things." (1 Cor. 
 ii. 14.) 
 
 Now we are not to suppose that a new 
 faculty is added to the mind in this 
 change ; but merely that the powers of 
 the intellect are so rectified and strength- 
 ened by the Holy Spirit, that the rege- 
 nerated person is enabled to perceive the 
 truths of the Gospel when presented to 
 his view. Thus Jesus promised his dis- 
 ciples that the Holy Spirit should ^^take 
 of things relating to him and should show 
 them unto them ;" and the Apostle prays 
 for the Ephesians that, ^^the eyes of 
 their understanding being enlightened," 
 they may know what is the "^ Hope of 
 God's calling ; " implying that it cannot 
 be known without the spiritual illumina- 
 tion, which is a Divine gift. By means of 
 a renovated understanding, a person dis- 
 covers things before concealed, and be- 
 lieves those which he had deemed false 
 
44 
 
 and incredible. As the astronomer, by 
 tlie aid of scientific instruments, pene- 
 trates beyond the vulgar gaze, so the re- 
 generated man sees a new world, and is 
 conversant with spiritual objects and 
 heavenly truths, unknown to the unen- 
 lightened multitude. ^^ If any man," says 
 the Apostle Paul, "be in Christ Jesus, he 
 is a new creature, (or a new creation ;) the 
 old things have passed away, — ^iDchold all 
 things have become new." (2 Cor. v. 
 17.) This is the true regeneration of the 
 soul of man, in respect to his understand- 
 ing; but altogether different from the 
 notion of haptismal regeneration. 
 
 2nd, The heart is also renewed. 
 By the heart, we mean the will or af- 
 fections and dispositions of the mind, its 
 moral attributes and powers. These are 
 even more deranged and corrupted by the 
 fall of man than the intellectual; and there- 
 fore need a special divine influence to eflfect 
 the desired change. This will evidently 
 appear from the account which the Apostle 
 
45 
 
 gives us of the state of man unregeiierate. 
 '^ The carnal mind/' says he, " is enmity 
 against God; for it is not subject to the 
 law of God, neither indeed can be. So 
 then they that are in the flesh cannot 
 please God. But ye are not in the flesh, 
 but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit 
 of God dwell in you. Now if any man 
 have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none 
 of His." ^^As many as are led by the 
 Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." 
 (Rom. viii. 7—d, 14.) 
 
 Now the essential principle of aU moral 
 goodness is — Love to God. But if the 
 carnal or unregenerate mind is ^^ enmity 
 against God," inveterate and malignant 
 enmity, as the word ^x^pa, imports, it 
 is destitute of the vital spring of real 
 goodness, and is filled with dispositions 
 and affections to that which is evil. If 
 the understanding is bhnd to spiritual 
 things, the heart is also dead to them : 
 and this is the representation of the case 
 by the Apostle, who says to the Ephesian 
 d5 
 
46 
 
 converts : ^^ You having been dead in 
 trespasses and sins, hatli God brought to 
 life in Christ. Formerly you lived ac- 
 cording to the course of this world, under 
 the influence of that evil spirit which 
 reigns therein, and obeying the impulse 
 of depraved lusts and passions : a state in 
 which," says he, "we all are by nature, and 
 are thus exposed to the just displeasure 
 of God. But by the grace of God we are 
 raised with Christ to the possession of a 
 new life, by the love of God shed abroad 
 in the heart through the regenerating in- 
 fluence of the Holy Spirit." 
 
 Here then is a real change of heart. 
 The natural enmity of man toward God 
 is ^^ slain," as the Apostle expresses it, and 
 the true principle of moral virtue is in- 
 fused. If the hatred of an object be taken 
 away, and the love of it imparted, what 
 two states of mind can be more opposite 
 to each other ? The person undergoing 
 this change of heart, is as different from 
 what he was, as if he had been made over 
 
47 
 
 again. He is fused and remoulded : he 
 is^ in fact^ another man as to character, 
 though the same person as to identity. 
 
 This change seems even more wonderful 
 than the preceding. It is indeed a miracle 
 for the eyes of one born blind to be 
 opened by a word ; but it seems a more 
 stupendous power which brings the dead 
 to life : and, in fact, nothing short of the 
 power which at first produced life, can 
 restore it, either as to the body or the 
 soul. Thus the Apostle attributes it to 
 this very cause, when he says to the 
 Corinthians : " God, who commanded the 
 light to shine out of darhness, hath shined 
 in our hearts, to give the light of the 
 knowledge of the glory of God in the face 
 of Jesus Christ:' (2 Cor. iv. 6.) The 
 omnipotence and the goodness which 
 created the universe can alone effect this 
 change of heart in our fallen and depraved 
 nature. It is^ indeed, a moral regenera- 
 tion 'j but a very different thing from the 
 imaginary change termed ^^ baptismal re- 
 
48 - 
 
 generation." This is a real change in the 
 moral constitution of a man, and is abso- 
 lutely essential to the being of a Chris- 
 tian. No form of words, no sacerdotal 
 charm, no priestly authority, no law or 
 commandment, or "will of man," can 
 produce it. Here is ^^ the finger of God." 
 Here is the voice of Jesus at the tomb of 
 Lazarus, saying in the tone of Deity to 
 the soul dead in sin, " Come forth 1 " 
 What a wretched imposition on the igno- 
 rant is it, to tell them they are regenerated 
 by the Holy Spirit, when they are still 
 dead, by the just condemnation of the 
 law of God, and by the love of sin ! 
 What bUndness or what audacity must 
 that be, which can thus mislead sinful crea- 
 tures — especially the young — into a sup- 
 position that a religious rite of any kind, 
 can produce this change of heart, and 
 that it is uniformly experienced by every 
 infant of a week old, by means of a few 
 drops of water, and a few serious words, 
 uttered in an ecclesiastical tone, by a man 
 
49 
 
 m a particular dress for the occasion ! 
 Surely, if such deceived souls are finally- 
 lost^ ^^ their blood will be required at the 
 hands" of their deceivers ! Let us shake 
 off such delusions^ and open our hearts 
 to a reception of the truth ! Let us 
 pray earnestly to God for this regene- 
 rating light for the understanding, and 
 this regenerating love for the heart ! 
 
 3. This change reforms the life. 
 
 Such an effect will naturally and neces- 
 sarily follow from the previous change 
 on the understanding and the heart. 
 ^^ Make the tree good," says our Lord, 
 "^ and the fruit will be good also." New 
 moral principles will produce correspond- 
 ent actions. As "enmity to God" in 
 our fallen nature, shows itself in a life of 
 disobedience and rebellion, so ^^ Love to 
 God" is expressed by a life of piety, hu- 
 mihty, submission, gratitude, and zeal. 
 When the soul is regenerated by the Holy 
 Spirit, the inward and spiritual change 
 will soon appear in the language, temper. 
 
50 
 
 manners, and conduct of the individual. 
 He who was before profane, shall now be 
 devotional. He who was fierce, proud, 
 and irritable, shall now have the meekness 
 and gentleness of the ^^ Lamb of God." 
 He who was riotous, intemperate, and 
 impure, shall now be quiet, sober, and 
 modest. He who was false and fraudulent, 
 shall be now trustworthy and true. He 
 who was covetous and selfish, shall be now 
 self-denying and generous. " Old things 
 have, indeed, passed away ; all things 
 have become new : " — new views, new 
 tastes and dispositions, new pursuits and 
 habits, and new society. For here is a 
 new man in Christ Jesus, brought into a 
 new world. ^' We are God's workman- 
 ship," saith the Apostle, '^ created in 
 Christ Jesus for good works, which God 
 hath pre-ordained that we should walk 
 in.'' (Ephes. ii. 10.) 
 
 Many instances of this practical change 
 of life and character appear on the pages 
 of the New Testament; but none are 
 
51 
 
 more striking than tliat which is re- 
 corded of the Corinthians — a people 
 proverbially impure, even amongst the 
 heathens of Greece and Rome. " Know 
 ye not/' saith the apostle Paul to them, 
 " that the unrighteous shall not inherit 
 the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived : 
 neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor 
 adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers 
 of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, 
 nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, 
 nor extortioners, shall inherit the king- 
 dom of God." "And such were some 
 of you : but ye have washed yourselves 
 from these things : but ye are sanctified : 
 but ye are justified by the name of the 
 Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our 
 God." 
 
 The understandings and the hearts of 
 these very wicked persons had been re- 
 newed by the Holy Spirit, and their lives 
 had become holy. They had washed in 
 ^'the fountain opened for sin and un- 
 cleanness," and repented of their former 
 
52 
 
 courses. The cliange was evident and 
 known. It was so notorious that the 
 Apostle challenges them in proof of his 
 ministerial success. "Ye are our letter" 
 of recommendation, says he, '' known and 
 read by all men :. . . . ye are manifestly 
 declared to be the epistle of Christ, mi- 
 nistered by us ; written not with ink, but 
 by the Spirit of the living God." (2 Cor. 
 iii. 2, 3.) 
 
 This was regeneration in the days of 
 the Apostles : it was evidently a true con- 
 version of the heart and life, from sin and 
 Satan unto God. If any say, that this 
 was effected by baptism, because the 
 Apostle speaks of their being '' washed ;" 
 we reply that this term is very often used 
 figuratively in the Scripture for repentance 
 and sanctification : e.g., the Psalmist prays 
 thus : " Wash me thoroughly from my 
 iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin." 
 Job says, " If I wash myself with snow 
 water and make my hands never so clean, 
 yet thou shalt plunge me into the ditch. 
 
53 
 
 and my own clothes shall abhor me." 
 The Apostle might use the term in the 
 same figurative sense^ without meaning to 
 say that the water of baptism had literally 
 washed them from their sins. If^ how- 
 ever^ that water^ or any other^ could 
 produce such an eifect^ as that produced 
 on the Corinthians, we should be as 
 strong believers in the virtue of holy water 
 as the votaries of baptismal regeneration. 
 Let them produce their converts, such as 
 the Corinthians, washed from the pollu- 
 tion of their sins by means of baptism, 
 and we will believe their doctrine. But 
 we will not be put off with any thing 
 imaginary and hypothetical. Let us see 
 a vile Corinthian suddenly changed, by 
 the virtue of baptismal water, into a holy 
 Christian, and we shall bow under the 
 force of evidence. For such a fact, how- 
 ever, we expect to have long to wait. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured from the 
 Scripture to refute the error of baptismal 
 regeneration, and, from the same autho- 
 
54 
 
 rity, to illustrate the real nature of spiri- 
 tual regeneration^ it will become us to 
 examine ourselves, in order to ascertain 
 whether we have actually been " bo7m 
 again.'" Our Lord declares solemnly : — 
 '^ Ve7^ily, verily, I say unto you, you must 
 be born againy This spiritual change is 
 absolutely necessary to be a real Chris- 
 tian, and to attain salvation. Is my 
 understanding enlightened ? is my heart 
 purified ? is my life altered ? All persons 
 are not, indeed, so outwardly wicked as 
 the Corinthians ; but their nature is 
 equally sinful, and had they lived at 
 Corinth, they would have acted like the 
 Corinthians. Let no one suppose he is 
 exempt from the necessity of this spiritual 
 change. If Nicodemus required it, who 
 was a moral and respectable character, who 
 can be supposed to pass to heaven with- 
 out it ? Until a person see the necessity 
 of this change, he is evidently unchanged ; 
 he is still in the pride of his impenitent 
 heart. When one sees and feels the 
 
55 
 
 truth that we " must be bom again," the 
 change is already commenced^ and will 
 doubtless finish by the production of " a 
 perfect man in Christ Jesus." 
 
 If, then, baptismal regeneration be an 
 error, an imposition, a delusion, how 
 carefully should it be avoided; — how stre- 
 nuously opposed ! If a child, taught in a 
 catechism by a parent, a tutor, a minister 
 of religion, that it has experienced all the 
 regeneration that the Scriptures require — 
 all that it can possibly possess — when it 
 was baptized in its unconscious infancy, 
 should adhere to this prejudice through 
 life, and should thus imagine, in advanced 
 years, that all was well for the soul, and 
 should die under this illusion, un- 
 changed ; — die in the natural pride and 
 self-righteousness of our fallen nature, 
 and so should not " enter the kingdom of 
 heaven;" how lamentable that such an 
 one should have been taught that error — 
 should have remained through life under 
 
that delusion ! Such a soul will curse 
 the catechism and the ministrations which 
 misled it, for ever and ever : and will 
 beseech that a special messenger may be 
 sent to warn surviving relatives and erro- 
 neous teachers, of the danger awaiting 
 them, while clinging to this ^' spider's 
 web," and leaning on this " broken 
 reed," lest they should also '^ enter into 
 that place of torment." 
 
 It were better for those who uphold 
 baptismal regeneration now to consider 
 and repent, and earnestly pray to God for 
 the grace of His Holy Spirit to instruct 
 them in the truth of the Gospel, to en- 
 lighten their understandings, to purify 
 their hearts, and to " sanctify them body, 
 soul and spirit," and to lead them by a 
 right way, through this wilderness of diffi- 
 culty and danger, to that "better, hea- 
 venly country," where they shall meet with 
 '^ the spirits of just men made perfect ;'^ 
 and where they shall shine in the righte- 
 
ousness of Christ and the sanctification 
 of the Spirit, with the reflected glory of 
 the Father — '^ heirs, indeed, of God, and 
 joint heirs with Christ, of that kingdom 
 which is one of righteousness, peace, and 
 joy," for evermore. Amen ! Amen ! 
 
 London : 
 Printed by A. Benisch, 7, Bevis Marks, St. Mary Axe.