■'':■'*■' T ' ''*t^y^i(^: 
 
 
<^ PHINCETON. N. J. <ff 
 
 Presented by Mr Samuel Agnew of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Agnczv Coil, on Baptism, No. 
 

f 
 
Cfjeolofiical (tnqaivp 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 SACRAMENT OP BAPTISM, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 iSTATUKE OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION: 
 
 IN FIFE DISCOURSES, 
 PREACHED BEFORE 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 IN APRIL, 1817. 
 
 BY THE REV. C. BENSON, M.A. 
 
 Member of trinity college, and lecturer of st. John's, 
 
 KEWCASTLE-tJrON-TYNE. 
 
 §lcntJon : 
 
 PRINTED FOR F. C. AND J* RIVINGTON, 
 
 ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD; 
 
 SOLD ALSO BY PARKER, OXFORD ; AND BY DEIGMTONH 
 
 AND NICHOLSONS, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 1817. 
 
Frinted by ti. cj-. /; Gilbert, it, J>)]in's Squure, London, 
 
 Ctr 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 MY attention was first more particu- 
 larly directed to the subject of the fol- 
 lowing Discourses b\^ the request of an 
 individual, whose Baptism had been ne- 
 glected in infancy, and who, after having 
 grown up to years of maturity and at- 
 tended the service of the Church, felt 
 dubious with regard to the necessity and 
 advantages of receivins; that Sacrament. 
 In the course of the extended and serious 
 enquiry to which this circumstance gave 
 rise, I was naturally led to consider the 
 present controversy upon Regeneration; 
 and, after having formed a mature and 
 A 2 
 
IV ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 deliberate opinion, I drew up my sen- 
 timents in tlie following form, and de- 
 livered them before tlie University of 
 Cambridge, as one of the Preachers for 
 1817. The reception which they then 
 met with has induced me to lay them be- 
 fore the public. 
 
 I should not have entered upon so im- 
 material a statement, as tlie origin of 
 the present publication, had I not been 
 anxious to shew, that 1 did not sit down 
 to the investigation as the determined 
 advocate of a preconceived opinion, but 
 as an impartial enquirer, and for the pur- 
 pose of satisfying, if possible, tlie con- 
 scientious scruples of an individual upon 
 the nature and efficacy of Baptism. The 
 result, whether true or false, in which 
 
ADVEHTISEMENT. V 
 
 the enquiry lias issued, was unpremedi- 
 tated ; and if I had any prejudices to 
 combat, they certainly would have led to 
 a conclusion considerably different from 
 that which I have ultimately adopted. 
 
 To this statement I shall only add, 
 th.at whatever may be the fate of the fol- 
 lowing pages, I trust, they will at least 
 be found to be written in a tone of in- 
 offensive moderation. Personal contro- 
 versy upon any subject, but more espe- 
 cially in sacred things, cannot be too 
 much, or too carefully avoided. Even in 
 reading it, 1 have often felt my temper 
 irritated and my judgment misled, and 
 I therefore hope, that through life I 
 shall have the virtue to form, and the 
 strength to maintain, a decided resolution 
 
 1 
 
VI ADVERTISEMEXT. 
 
 to resist the propensity, and pursue tlie 
 conduct recommended in the followinor 
 ■^^.f-ifcf passage of ©icej» : '' Neminem nominabo, 
 V i</^rM. genus homini^signasse contentus." 
 
 C. B. 
 
 Nevicastle-upon- Tyne, 
 J me 10, 1817. 
 
C O N T E NtB^i^^^ 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 THE INSTITUTION AND NATURE OF CHRISTIAN 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 1 Peter iii. 21. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Baptism doth also now save us, (not the putting 
 away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of 
 a good conscience toward God) by the resurrec- 
 tion of Jesus Christ 1 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 THE NECESSITY AND EFFICACY OF THE BAPTISM 
 OF ADULTS. 
 
 Acts ii. 38. 
 
 Repent, and be baptised 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. . 23 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 THE PROPRIETY AND EFFICACY OF THE BAPTISM 
 OF INFANTS. 
 
 Mark X. 14. 
 Suffer the little children to come unto me, and 
 forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of 
 God , ,.,........«,*«...» 41 
 
Vm CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 THE NATURE OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 
 John iii. 3. 5. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Except a man be born again, he cannot see the 
 
 kmgdom of God. 
 Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 
 
 he cannot enter into the kingdom of God 61 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 THE NATURE OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 The same text , * . « 83 
 
DISCOURSE I. 
 
 THE INSTITUTION AND NATURE OF CHRISTIAN 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 1 PETER iii. 21. 
 
 Baptism doth also now save us, (not the putting 
 axvay of the filth of the flesh, but the answc?' of a 
 good consciejice toward God) by the resurreC' 
 tion of Jesus Christ, 
 
 J HERE are many passages in the New Testa- 
 ment which either directly or indirectly apply to 
 the subject of baptism, but that to which, in an 
 investigation into its nature and effects, our atten- 
 tion ought in the first instance more especially to 
 be directed, is the original institution of the or- 
 dinance itself, as it stands recorded in the three 
 last verses of the Gospel of St. Matthew. " Je- 
 sus came and spake to the Apostles, saying, All 
 power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 
 Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all na- 
 tions, baptising them in the name of the Father, 
 *nd of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching 
 
2 Nature of Baptism. 
 
 them to observe all things whatsoever T have com- 
 manded you. And lo, I am with you alway, even 
 unto the end of the world."' 
 
 From this passage a variety of inferences may 
 be drawn, which are of peculiar importance in 
 the consideration of the sacrament. The first is, 
 that baptism, so far as it is an ordinance of the 
 Christian Church, was established by Jesus him- 
 self. The second is, that it was established by 
 Jesus, as a perpetual and universal institution in 
 his Church ; and the third, that it was established 
 by him as an institution perpetually and univer- 
 sally efj&cacious for the production of the end it 
 has in view. 
 
 The first of these inferences is so undeniably 
 obvious, that, except from its connection with the 
 other two, it might seem almost unnecessary to 
 be mentioned. It was Jesus who came. It was 
 Jesus who spake to them. It was Jesus who 
 commanded them to go forth and baptise all 
 nations, and it is Jesus, therefore, who is the 
 author and the institutor of the rite. 
 
 It is also sufficiently evident that, though Jesus 
 addressed these words to the eleven Apostles 
 alone, he did not address them in their private 
 character as men, but in their professional cha- 
 racter, as the appointed ministers of religion, as 
 persons peculiarly selected and sent forth to con- 
 vert every creature to the belief, and instruct 
 
Nature of Baptism^ S 
 
 every converted creature in the principles of the 
 Gospel. And from the promise which he imme- 
 diately added, " Lo, I am with you alway, even 
 unto the end of the world;" it is equally plain that 
 he did not only address them as individual minis- 
 ters, but also in their collective capacity, as the 
 representatives of all the future ministers of the 
 Gospel. For if that were not the case, the pro- 
 mise itself would be made of none effect, ridi- 
 culous in its terms and impossible in its accom- 
 plishment. The ministers of the Gospel, there- 
 fore, in every age are not only permitted and au- 
 thorized, but positively and distinctly commanded 
 by the imperative form of the expressions, to 
 practice the rite universally, and continue it for 
 ever; to make disciples out of every nation under 
 heaven, and as a means.of making them disciples, 
 to baptise them in the form prescribed. 
 
 Now whatever is done by any servant at the 
 command, and with the authority of his master, 
 may be said to be virtually done by the master 
 himself, and so far as the form and the commis- 
 sion of the master extend, will in all cases be 
 efficacious to the end proposed. Those Ciiristians, 
 therefore, in every age, who have been duly and 
 rightly baptised, may be considered to have been, 
 in fact, baptised by Jesus himself, through the 
 hands of his ministers, and all the legitimate 
 effects of the administration of the ordinance to 
 
 .B 2 
 
4 Nature of Baptism. 
 
 have descended with full force upon their heads 
 and hearts. It is the same now as it was in the 
 original promulgation of the Gospel, and Jesus 
 may now also, as then he said, *' to baptise many 
 disciples, though Jesus himself baptise not," but 
 only his ministers. If then we examine the terms 
 of the commission which was given tathe Apos- 
 tles, we shall find that it delegated to them an 
 authority of the most unlimited and unsuspicious 
 nature. Lo, / am with you, says our Saviour, 
 I, to whom all' power is given in heaven and in 
 earth, I am present with you alway in the fulness 
 of that power, even unto the end of the world. 
 It is I, to whom Angels and principalities and 
 dominions are made subject; who am overall, 
 and above you all, and in you all ; it is I who 
 have commanded you to go forth and baptise in 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost. And if you beheve my promise, 
 and obey my commandment, wherever you are, 
 and in every age, I will be with you, to strengthen 
 your weakness and confirm the deed. After this 
 positive and solemn declaration, it were surely 
 something more than a weakness of faith in the 
 words, something more than a want of reverence 
 for the character of Jesus, to doubt the energetic 
 and effectual operation of the ministerial work of 
 baptism, or to deny in any case the universal 
 efficacy of its legitimate administration. 
 
Nature of Baptism. % 
 
 In what then does the efficacy of baptism con- 
 sist, and what are those privileges and benefits, 
 which, under different circumstances, it may b© 
 supposed to confer ? 
 
 This is a question of primary importance, and 
 in endeavouring to frame a satisfactory answer, 
 and to decide upon the nature of those effects 
 which are produced in the various recipients of 
 baptism, we must carefully guard against the 
 double error of raising its advantages too high, 
 or unwarily depressing them below the level of 
 the truth. 
 
 Now it is not for a moment to be supposed, 
 that our Lord would solemnly and seriously esta- 
 blish any custom as perpetual and universal m his 
 Church, without some sound and solid object in 
 view. But the precise extent and value of that 
 object can only be determined by an accurate ex- 
 amination of the intention with which the custom 
 in question was originally ordained. Into this 
 examination, therefore, we must now proceed, 
 with regard to the sacrament of baptism ; and in 
 entering upon this enquiry, it will plainly appear 
 from the very words of the institution, that bap- 
 tism was ordained by Jesus with a religious view, 
 and that it was intended by him that all who were 
 initiated into the religion of the Gospel in ariy 
 part or period of the world, should be initiate^ 
 .by the performance of this rite, " Go ye, ther^^ 
 
6 Nature of Baptism, 
 
 fore, and make disciples of all nations, baptising 
 them.'* All therefore are by baptism to be made 
 Christians, Christians not in outward name and 
 appearance only, not merely by a nominal as- 
 sumption of Christianity before men, but in truth 
 and in reality, and before God. It has been the 
 opinion of many, indeed, that baptism is nothing 
 more than an acknowledgment on our part before 
 the Church, that we have taken upon ourselves 
 the name and profession of Christians. But the 
 inadequacy of this view of the subject may be sa- 
 tisfactorily proved by a reference to the circum- 
 stances which attended the baptism of the Ethio- 
 pian Eunuch. He was not baptised before any 
 assembly of Christians. He was baptised in a 
 place and at a time when Philip and himself would 
 appear to have been the only witnesses to tha- 
 transaction. And from hence we may fairly con- 
 clude, that baptism is something more than a bare 
 outward profession of our faith to the Church, 
 because in that light the baptism of the Eunuch 
 could have been of no avail. It v/as not publicly, 
 or before the Church, that he wa« baptised. The 
 only persons present were probably himself and 
 the Minister of Jesus. The general efficacy of 
 baptism we would therefore resolve into the new 
 relations into which the recipient is introduced 
 with his Creator, his Redeemer, and his Sanctifier, 
 It is an acknowledgment on God's part, that fcp 
 
Nature of Baptism, 7 
 
 has admitted us into the religion and fellowship 
 of his Son. " For by one spirit we are all bap- 
 tised into one body," and adopting the words of 
 the venerable Hooker, we would say that " bap- 
 tism not only declareth but maketh us Chris- 
 tians;" in the words of Taylor, that " the spirit 
 of God moves upon the waters of baptism, and 
 in that sacrament adopts us into the mystical 
 body of Christ;" and that by the right and legal 
 administration of the ordinance, we are all im- 
 piediately and actually placed under the operation 
 of the law, and admitted into the conditions of 
 the covenant of the Gospel. No matter whether 
 he be faithful or faithless, righteous or wicked, to 
 no man is baptism an empty and an insignificant 
 sign. It is to the hypocrite as to the sincere, a 
 sign and a means of placing them under the opera- 
 tion of the law, and bringing them within the 
 influence of the covenant of grace. 
 
 Whilst we thus state it as an unrestricted pro- 
 position, that the efficacy of baptism consists in 
 placing all who receive it under the Gospel co- 
 venant, we are fully aware that we may seem to 
 many to advance a doctrine, which inevitably 
 tends to encourage a destructive confidence in the 
 mere opus operatwn, and an unfounded reliance 
 upon the bare ceremonial administration of the 
 sacrament To guard, therefore, against this mis- 
 apprehension, and to remove this prejudice, W(? 
 
8 Nature of Bapiisnu 
 
 shall observe, in the first place, that the conse- 
 quences which flow from being placed under the 
 influence of any covenant, vary with the varying 
 nature of that covenant ; and then proceed to 
 enquire into the nature of that variation, under 
 different circumstances. 
 
 We may be allowed, perhaps, to determine gc 
 herally with regard to covenants, that they are 
 agreements, in which the mutual consent of the 
 contracting parties is either expressed or implied; 
 that they may be formed either between equals or 
 unequals ; that they may be formed for almost 
 any purpose whatever, either lor the purpose of 
 conferring or receiving a favour, either for the 
 purpose of creating a new, or strengthening an 
 already existing obligation ; that they may be 
 either conditional or unconditional in their terms; 
 and that, after they have once been formed, they 
 will be effectual to realize the end they propose, 
 in every case and in every instance, in which the 
 contracting parties oppose no bar or obstacle to 
 their operation. If this view of the nature and 
 object of a covenant be kept constantly in mind, 
 it will be easy, under every modification, to de- 
 termine what will be a bar to a participation in its 
 benefits. If a covenant be absolute and uncon- 
 ditional in its construction, the benefits which it 
 proniises will of course be universally conveyed 
 and conferred upon everv one who is admitted 
 
Mature of Baptism. S 
 
 within its operation, whether they be good or bad. 
 Where a covenant is without conditions, it will be 
 but one and the same thing to be placed under its 
 influence, and made a partaker of its blessings, 
 because the efficacy of the covenant being in this 
 case altogether independent of the circumstances 
 of the covenanters, can neither be hindered or ad- 
 vanced by any change in those circumstances. 
 But where a covenant requires qualifications as 
 well as bestows privileges, the case assumes a 
 complexion altogether different, and the effect will 
 correspond and vary according to the presence or 
 the absence of those qualifications. When the 
 advantages of a covenant are coiiditionally be- 
 stowed by a superior upon an inferior being, the 
 want of those conditions in the inferior being, must 
 generally be a bar of the most inseparable kind, a 
 want necessarily destructive of the beneficial ope^ 
 ration of the covenant, and permanently fatal to 
 the object it has in view. 
 
 We have only therefore to enquire what is the 
 precise nature of the Gospel covenant, and we 
 shall immediately be enabled to perceive what 
 will be the effect of our admission into it by 
 baptism. 
 
 The Gospel then is the free gift of an offended 
 Creator to his ofiending creatures- It is a co- 
 venant of grace, conveying blessings from a su- 
 perior to an inferior being. A cpvenant it is 
 
10 Nature of Baptism. 
 
 between the judge and the criminal, — a righteous 
 God and sinful man. And whilst the revelation 
 of this covenant from God is a decided and irre- 
 sistible proof of his consent to its terms, the con- 
 currence of man, though not so expressly given, 
 is yet unequivocally implied, in his natural obliga- 
 tion as a creature, to agree to any thing which 
 may be proposed to him by his Creator. The 
 Gospel, therefore, as might naturally be expected, 
 considering the object it has in view, and the 
 source of wisdom from which it springs, teaches 
 us every thing relative to the forgiveness of our 
 sins, which it is either necessary or useful that 
 we should know. It describes the method by 
 which, after having fallen from the favour of God 
 by transgression, and lost our title to the inherit- 
 ance of everlasting happiness, we may again be 
 restored to that favour, and continue in it to the 
 end of our lives, and then pass through the gates 
 of death into the temple of that eternal bliss which 
 we had forfeited. 
 
 What then is it for a sinner to be restored 
 to the favour of God, and how is it to be ef- 
 fected ? 
 
 The pardon of sins that are already past, is of 
 course the first thing implied in our restoration to 
 the favour of an offended Creator. " For the 
 wrath of God is against all ungodliness," and that 
 wrath cannot be removed, nor his good-will 
 
Nature of Baptism. 1 1 
 
 recovered, until the guilt of our sins have been 
 blotted out. Then, and then only, if we continue 
 steadfast and unmoveable in the ways of God, we 
 may look upon him as our Father and our friend. 
 The remission of sim is therefore the fjrst of the 
 promises of the Gospel. But as the same weak- 
 ness, which before led us into crime, will still 
 operate upon our conduct, if not happily pre- 
 vented by some superior and controlling influence^ 
 we cannot evidently continue in holiness, and con- 
 sequently not in the favour of God, unless he 
 give us strength to resist our temptations, and 
 overcome our frailty for the future. Now this 
 tjtrength the Scriptures uniformly attribute to the 
 working of the Spirit of God. ^' It is God that 
 worketh in us both to will and to do." For our 
 continuance in the favour of God, when once 
 restored, there is therefore further added in the 
 Gospel to the pardon of sin, the poxvcr of the 
 Spirit to perform our duty. 
 
 Such are the blessings contained in the covenant 
 of the Gospel; but it would be a vain and foolish 
 imagination to suppose that they are absolutely 
 and unconditionally bestowed. Of God, the au- 
 thor of the covenant, it would indeed be impious 
 to speak, as if any thing more were required of 
 him than the simple word of revelation which he 
 has given. But it would be equally impious to 
 suppose, that the glory, the justice, and the righ- 
 
J^fi Nature df Baptism. 
 
 teousness of Heaven would grant its mighty mer- 
 cies indifferently to the pure and to the impure, 
 to the filthy and the clean. From man, there- 
 fore, the inferior party in the contract, conditions 
 and qualities are required, conditions upon which 
 alone he will be permitted to become an heir in 
 possession of the promises of the Gospel, and 
 qualities by which alone he will be enabled to 
 enjoy them. And these qualities and conditions 
 are expressly stated by our Saviour to be, 1st. an 
 earnest and true repentance for all our follies and 
 crimes, which necessarily includes a solemn re- 
 solution and unfeigned endeavour to avoid all 
 such crimes and follies for the future, and to pur- 
 sue the paths of well-doing, without wavering and 
 "weariness. For, ** except ye repent, ye shall all 
 perish." 2ndly. a sincere belief in God and in 
 Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. For " whoso- 
 ever believeth in him shall not perish, but have 
 everlasting life." 
 
 These are the two fixed and indispensable con- 
 ditions, without which no capable member of the 
 Gospel covenant will ever be permitted to par- 
 take in the blessings it has promised. But this 
 loss of glory is not the whole of the evil arising 
 from 'the culpable absence of those conditions. 
 To her peculiar mercies the Gospel adds her aw- 
 ful judgments also, and justly prepares for the 
 unbelieving and impenitent, for those who are 
 
Nature of Baptism, I? 
 
 deficient in those qualifications which she require^' 
 and they have the power to attain, the worm 
 which dieth not, and the fire which cannot be 
 quenched. For if the unrighteousness of man in 
 every age and country deserve the wrath of the 
 Almighty, of \\o\w much sorer punishment, think 
 you, shall not they be counted worthy, who have 
 trodden under foot the covenant, and neglected 
 or despised its superior mercies ; who have viO' 
 lated both their natural and federal obligations to 
 the duties of piety and virtue. 
 
 Here then we have the law of the religion of 
 Christ, stated under its most simple form, stripped 
 of those endless and intricate disputes with which 
 it has been overloaded by the prejudices of men, 
 and such as it must ever appear to a godly mind, 
 sincerely desirous of arriving at the truth. The 
 object of the Gospel is the conditiotial salvation of 
 all mankind, and as a covenant, propounding 
 the terms for the attainment of this object, it na- 
 turally resolves itself into a covenant of mercy and 
 a covenant of wrath, — of mercy, to those who, 
 having entered into it, repent and believe, — of 
 wrath to all its wiljally unbelieving and impeni- 
 tent members. 
 
 Admitting, therefore, the truth of this repre- 
 sentation of the Gospel, it is impossible that the 
 doctrine of an universal admission of the reci- 
 pients of baptism into tliat covenant, can be at- 
 
14 Nature of Bapiis7n, 
 
 tended with any immoral consequences. For the 
 same limitations must apply to the reception of 
 the blessings of any covenant, which apply to 
 their continuance, wlien once received ; and if tO' 
 be an unworthy member of the Christian covenant 
 will effectually prevent its wholesome operation, 
 the wholesome operation of baptism will be equally 
 prevented by our unworthily becoming so. Now 
 to be under the law, and to live under the influ- 
 ence of the covenant of the Gospel, limits the 
 continuance of sanctification and redemption to 
 those alone who continue to fulfil the requisite 
 conditions, and confines the favour of pardon and 
 the power of the spirit to those only who repent 
 and believe. To those who will not repent, or 
 who disbelieve, it means only to live under a law 
 of heavier vengeance, and in a fearful looking-for 
 of judgment and of fiery indignation, and no con- 
 tinuance of pardon is assured to them thereby, 
 and no power of the spirit to amend. But bap- 
 tism we have declared to be the means of our 
 being placed under this law, — the very door of 
 our entrance into this covenant. We have only 
 therefore to make the necessary alteration in the 
 terms of the preceding sentence, and we shall 
 obtaai an exact and comprehensive proposition, 
 describing the consequences of baptism upon 
 every capable subject. We have only to change 
 the manner of Ibe expressioHj and to say; —that 
 
Nature of Baptism. \^ 
 
 to be placed under the law, and received into the 
 covenant of the Gospel by l)aptism, limits the re- 
 ception of sanctification and redemption to those 
 ^lone who fulfil the required conditions, and con- 
 fines the communication of pardon and the power 
 of the Spirit to those only, who at the time repent 
 and believe. To those who will not repent, or who 
 disbelieve, it means only to be placed under a law 
 of heavier vengeance, and admitted into a fearful 
 looking-for of judgment and of fiery indignation, 
 and no pardon is granted to them thereby, and no 
 power of the Spirit to amend. The spiritual 
 blessings of baptism at the time of its reception, 
 like the spiritual blessings of the covenant itself, 
 are to be measured by the worthiness of the reci- 
 pient. And wherever an individual is capable of 
 fulfilling the conditions we have specified, his 
 worthiness must of course be estimated according 
 to their fulfilment. 
 
 ]. If, therefore, a rational and intelligent 
 adult, an adult blessed with the opportunity of 
 learning and the capacity of understanding his 
 duty,— an adult living in a christian country, and 
 attending upon a christian ministry, should pre- 
 sumptuously approach the waters of baptism;. 
 without penitence or belief, it is evident that the 
 administration of the ordinance would communi- 
 cate to him at the time no beneficial effect what- 
 soever. For the impenitence and unbelief of such 
 
16 Nature of Baptism* 
 
 a man must necessarily be considered as a wilful 
 want of the requisite qualifications, and conse- 
 quently as a bar lo the benefits of a conditional 
 covenant, whose saving power depends upon the 
 worthiness of its members. And if that bar 
 should still continue, and if that man should go on 
 and live the life and die the deathof impenitence and 
 unbelief, doubtless, his damnation will be greater, 
 and his punishment the more severe. He has 
 sinned against the law, and therefore must be 
 judged by the law, and be beaten with many 
 stripes, because he knew, or, at least, had an 
 opportunity of knowing and doing,, the will of 
 God, and did it not. Yet I would not dare, even 
 in this extreme case, to say, that baptism, as the 
 solemn institution of my Saviour and my God, is 
 altogether without any possible benefit. The case 
 of a wilfully faithless and unrepenting recipient 
 of baptism, is, indeed, in reality as dangerous, as 
 it is horrible in contemplation, and we may well 
 expect, that having sinned against the light of his 
 conscience and the truth, the light will be for 
 ever withdrawn from his eyes, and he himself 
 condemned to all the wickedness and wretched- 
 ness of a reprobate mind, the anguish and despair 
 of a hopeless destiny. Still, however, we cannot, 
 without denying the general efficacy of the sacra-* 
 ment itself, deny, that every one is by baptism 
 made either a v, orthy or unworthy member of the 
 
Nature of Baptism. 17 
 
 covenant of grace, of that covenant which admits 
 and rewards the labourers of the vineyard even 
 as late as the eleventh hour of the day, and ex- 
 pressly declares, that *"' every one that believeth, 
 and is baptised shall be saved," without specifying 
 any particular moment, beyond which, that faith 
 will be ineffectual. Destitute, therefore, as we 
 may be of all rational or probable expectation of 
 such an event, we still feel authorized to main- 
 tain, that if the character of an unbelieving and 
 impenitent recipient of baptism should at any 
 subsequent period of life experience a favourable 
 and godly change, and from an unworthy, he 
 should become a worthy member of the Christian 
 covenant; his previous admission into it by bap- 
 tism will be made effectual to salvation without 
 any second administration of the ordinance : for 
 as there is but one faith, so also there is but one 
 baptism ; one admission only into the covenant of 
 the Gospel, which upon the fulfilment of the 
 requisite conditions, whenever that fulfilment may 
 take place, will be followed by the blessings it was 
 intended to convey. We conclude, that though 
 the unworthiness of a recipient of baptism may^ 
 place an effectual bar to his reception ot the spi- 
 ritual blessings of the Gospel at the titne of the 
 administration of the ordinance; yet, upon the 
 removal of that bar, the beneficial operation of 
 the Sacrament will immediately recur without the 
 
 C 
 
8X Nature of Bap tisn?. 
 
 repetition of the initiatory rite. And, I thinlc, 
 we are fully justified in supporting this view of 
 the subject by the manner in which the Scriptures 
 themselves have spoken concerning the baptism of 
 the sorcerer Simon. Simon believed and was 
 baptised, making, no doubt, the usual professions 
 %vhich were in those days required ; but his sub- 
 sequent conduct sufficiently proved that his heart 
 was not right with God. Still, however, his bap- 
 tism, though received or held by him in the gall 
 of bitterness and the bond of iniquity — though it 
 had not sanctified his soul had not been destitute 
 of all effect : it had placed him within the influ- 
 ence of the covenant, and thus given him a title 
 to pardon and salvation upon the conditions re- 
 quired. He was not, therefore, exhorted to be 
 re-baptised, or to perform any new rite to make 
 himself again a member of the Gospel covenant. 
 He was addressed as already a Christian, though 
 an unworthy one, and commanded only to repent 
 for the forgiveness of his sin, and the renewal of 
 his interest in the redemption of Jesus, which 
 from his impenitence, he had either forfeited, or 
 never received. He was, therefore, considered 
 by the apostles, who gave him these directions, as 
 still within the influence of the terms of that 
 covenant, of whose only gift it cometh, that re- 
 pentance availeth unto everlasting life. 
 
 2. That beneficial and wiiolesome operation of 
 
Nat we of Baptism. 19 
 
 baptism, which is hindered by the bar of wilful 
 impenitence or unbelief, will of course always and 
 immediately take place in every recipient in whom 
 that bar is not to be found. Wherever, therefore, 
 an adult possesses the qualifications of repentance 
 and faith, his baptism will not only place him un- 
 der the terms of the covenant of grace, but also 
 communicate to him, at the time, the graces of 
 the covenant, and convey to him the pardon of 
 his sins, and the power of the Spirit. Still, how- 
 ever, his redemption is not absolutely sure, but 
 stands suspended upon the future conduct of his 
 life. And if any one like the servant in the para- 
 ble, should dare to presume upon the forgiveness 
 of baptism, and violate or neglect the qualifica- 
 tions of a saint, like that M-icked servant too, his 
 pardon will be recalled, and the hand-writing of 
 ordinances again written against him in the book 
 of everlasting remembrance. 
 
 We may seem, perhaps, to have forgotten the 
 words, and the substance of the text ; but in all 
 that we have said, we have but been endeavour- 
 ing to prove the truth and the excellence of the 
 doctrine it contains; to shew that baptism, by 
 making us Christians, does save us, yet not by the 
 mere external and ceremonial washing away of the 
 filth of the flesh, but by the accompanying answer 
 of a good conscience towards God; the ans\rer 
 ©f a good conscience begun in baptism, through 
 
 c jj; 
 
20 Nature of Bapt'wn. 
 
 life continued, then ended in death, and carried 
 with us through the gates of the grave, before the 
 tribunal of the judgment seat of Christ. 
 
 But, after all, it is the great and glorious mys- 
 tery which this day* commemorates, that alone 
 can give saving strength and power to the whole. 
 It is ultimately " by the resurrection of Jesus," 
 that baptism itself is made effectual to salvation. 
 When Jesus was nailed unto the cross, darkness 
 fell upon the earth. For the space of three 
 hours the sun was darkened, and then burst forth 
 again with his accustomed splendour. But had 
 that light of the material world continued in ob- 
 scurity, the fair face of nature would have be- 
 come an universal blank, man would have lost 
 his cheerfulness and activity, and the vegetable 
 W'Ofld have drooped and withered in the ungenial 
 gloom. So for the space of three days the Son of 
 God slumbered in the grave, then burst the bonds 
 of death asunder, and ascended into the bosom 
 of his Father. But had he not risen from the 
 dead, and had his body mouldered away and 
 mingled with the dust, he might indeed have ex- 
 piated our crimes, and procured the pardon of our 
 offences; but xve could have had no certain testi- 
 mony of his power to save. As he died so must 
 we die also \ and had he continued subject to 
 
 • This Sermon was preached on Easter day. 
 
Nature of Baptism. 1 1 
 
 death, we also must have thought that we were to 
 sleep our eternal sleep with him. 
 
 But the Lord is risen indeed — risen from the 
 dead to assure life and immortality to his faithful 
 followers ; and therefore neither your faith nor 
 your baptism shall be in vain. 
 
DISCOURSE II. 
 
 THE NECEbSITY AND EFFICACY OF THE BAP- 
 TISM OF ADULTS. 
 
 ACTS ii. 38. 
 
 Repeiit, and be baptised e'oery one of you in the 
 name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins^ 
 and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 The combined result of those various enquiries, 
 which in the preceding discourse we instituted 
 with regard to the nature and efficacy of baptism, 
 ma}^ be briefly summed up in the following pro- 
 positions. 
 
 1. Baptism was instituted by Jesus himself as a 
 perpetual and universal, and as a perpetually and 
 universally efticacious ordinance in his Church. 
 
 2. The efficacy of the administration of bap- 
 tism consists in placing all who receive it under 
 the influence of the terms of the conditional cove- 
 nant of the Gospel. 
 
 3. Baptism, as it is the door of entrance only 
 into a co7iditional covenant, communicaie>, when 
 
^4 Baptism of Adults, 
 
 received, the spiritual blessings of that covenant, 
 the grace of pardon, and the power of the Spirit — 
 to those alone by whom it is rightly received. 
 
 4. Baptism is rightly and worthily received by 
 those alone who do not obstruct its sanctifying 
 and redeeming operation by any wilful want of 
 penitence, or any wilful unbelief 
 
 5. Baptism, however unworthily received, will 
 always resume its saving power upon the removal 
 of tlie bar of unworthiness, at whatever period of 
 life it may occur. 
 
 6. Baptism, however rightly and faithfully re- 
 ceived, will not continue its beneficial operation 
 upon the recipient, if the recipient does not con- 
 tinue to fulfil the conditions, and retain the quali- 
 fications which are required in that covenant, of 
 which he is a member. 
 
 Having endeavoured to establish the truth of 
 these conclusions by reasonings upon the nature 
 of the ordinance itself, and the interpretation of 
 various passages of Scripture, we must now 
 change the subject of investigation, and proceed 
 to consider the ntcessiti/ and the propriety of 
 baptism, the necessity of its administration to 
 Christians in general, and the propriety of its 
 administration to the children of Christians in 
 particular, and the different effects which in each 
 of those cases may be regarded as accompanying 
 its reception. 
 
Baptism of Adults. 25 
 
 The first difficulty which strikes us in the con- 
 sideration of the necessity of baptism, arises from 
 the important part which the Gospel assigns to the 
 qualities of faith and repentance in the great work 
 of sanctification and redemption. If baptism 
 without faith and repentance be absolutely useless 
 where faith and repentance already are, baptism 
 may perhaps be considered as not absolutely in- 
 dispensable, especially to such believing penitents, 
 as being born of Christian parents, and living in 
 a Christian country, have, by a uniform atten- 
 dance upon the services of the Church, and the 
 other ordinances of the Gospel, both frequently 
 and publicly declared themselves to be Chris- 
 tians, and unequivocally professed their belief in 
 the doctrines, and their sincere obedience to the 
 precepts of the Gospel. '^ If the uncircumcision 
 keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his 
 uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?" For 
 what is there of such power in the bare ceremo- 
 nial washing of water, that the faith and repen- 
 tance of an unbaptised, should not be accepted 
 in the sight of God as of equal avail with tho3e of 
 a baptised Christian? 
 
 The simple and irresistible answer to this ques- 
 tion is, that no one can be considered as really 
 and indisputably a Christian in the sight of God, 
 who has not been baptised in obedience to the 
 commandment; and in compliance with the insti- 
 
2(5 Baptism of Adults. 
 
 tution of Christ ; and that it is to Christians alone 
 that the redeeming and sanctifying promises of 
 Christianity apply. Were there many means of 
 becoming Christians, doubtless also there would 
 be as many means of making our faith and repen- 
 tance efficacious to our salvation. But it is under 
 the covenant of the Gospel alone, that we are 
 taught by Revelation either to expect, or to ob- 
 tain an interest in the sacrifice of the cross ; and 
 baptism, so far as we are acquainted with the will 
 of the Author of the Gospel, is the only appointed, 
 and therefore the only effectual means of bringing 
 us under the influence of that covenant. Baptism, 
 so far as we are enabled to learn from the Scrip- 
 tures of truth, is the only rite which has been or- 
 dained for the admission of disciples into that 
 religion which has alone been authorized to 2;rant 
 the assurance of forgiveness to its penitent and 
 believing disciples. Upon this ground, and un- 
 der these circumstances, we do venture to main- 
 tain the almost indispensible necessity of baptism 
 to the salvation of all who profess themselves to 
 be the disciples of that religion. V/c have the 
 warrant of Jesus for the awful denunciation, and 
 under the sanction of the force and clearness of 
 his expressions, we scruple not to declare, that 
 " t.vccpt a man be born of water," as well as of 
 thtf Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 God; whether we ref^jr to tlmt kingdom as it is 
 
Baptism of Ada Us, Qf 
 
 here, or as it shall be hereafter. Not that we 
 would doom to a state of everlasting miseiy any 
 who are incapable either of knowing or under- 
 standing, or fuliilling the commandment. Those 
 who sit in the region of darkness and the shadow 
 of death ; the deluded votaries of Mahometism 
 and idolatry, who have been taught, and heard 
 neither of the Gospel nor of baptism, we have 
 no positive or determinate revelation concerning 
 the things which will be required of them, and of 
 them therefore v,e presume not to speak. Them 
 and their fate we fearlessly leave to the mercy and 
 wisdom of God, who is no respecter of persons, 
 and who knoweth both when and how it becometh 
 him to save or destroy. Neither would we too 
 hastily condemn, or too boldly and severely deny 
 the joyful hope of everlasting life, to any, who 
 from unavoidable error of mind, or the ingrafted 
 prejudices of education, have been habitually and 
 assiduously taught to despise or neglect this sacra- 
 ment of their Saviour. Judgment belongeth unto 
 God, and having no certain commandment con- 
 cerning these things, we trust their destiny to him, 
 who always judges according unto right, and pu- 
 nishes or rewards according to that a man hath, 
 and not according to that he hath not received. 
 Of these men it may perhaps be true, " that their 
 uncircumcision, which is by nature, or from cir- 
 cumstances zwavoidable, will, indeed, be counted 
 
is Baptism of Adults. 
 
 to them for circumcision ;" if they keep the righ- 
 teousness, and obey the precepts of the dispensa- 
 tion under which they live. For it is not of such 
 cases that our Saviour speaks : neither, therefore, 
 do we. What the law says in any instance, it 
 says to those that are under the law ; to those that 
 have heard and are capable of comprehending 
 and obeying the law. What Christ says, he says to 
 those who have had an opportunity of being made 
 acquainted with the substance, and perceiving the 
 nature, and understanding the force and obliga- 
 tion of his commandments. And to these men he 
 does say, that " except they be born again of 
 water, as well as of the Spirit, they cannot enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven." To these men he 
 does say, that except they submit to the ceremony 
 of baptism, which he has ordained in his Church, 
 they cannot become members of the covenant, and 
 by consequence, not partakers of the blessings of 
 the Gospel. Neither is this so harsh a declara- 
 tion as perhaps, at first sight, it may appear to be. 
 Baptism rests not upon its own intrinsic nature 
 for the efficacy we have described. It was prac- 
 tised in many ages, and by many nations, without 
 being supposed to be accompanied by any of 
 tliose benefits which (when worthily received) we 
 have ascribed to it as a Christian ordinance. The 
 power and the dignity of which it is now pos- 
 sessed, a re. derived from the appointment of Jesus 
 

Baptism of Adults. 23 
 
 Christ. The washing of water is made effectual 
 only by the word of its institution, and it is froiii 
 its obligation as a Gospel rite and a Gospel com- 
 mandment, that the advantage of receiving, and 
 the danger of neglecting it arise. But he cannot 
 reckon himself a true disciple of Christ who does 
 not endeavour, to the utmost of his power, to 
 keep all his commandments; and if any capable 
 and intelligent individual to whom the Gospel has 
 been preached, and who has received the Gospel, 
 should presumptuously neglect, or pertinaciously 
 refuse to submit to a rite, which he acknowledges 
 his Master to have ordained as perpetual and uni- 
 versal in the Church ; he is guilty of such an act 
 of wilful disobedience as may well and justly call 
 down upon him the prohibition of entering into 
 the kingdom of God. If, indeed, it were true, 
 as it has been pretended by some, that our Saviour 
 himself has limited in another place the univer- 
 sality of the judgment which he pronounced 
 against the unbaptised of water in his conversa- 
 tion with Nicodemus, that limitation ought to be 
 thankfully and freely allowed. I confess, how- 
 ever, that I cannot perceive any foundation for 
 the remark. I observe, that Jesus concluded 
 his commission to the Apostles by a gracious pro- 
 mise, that '^ whosoever believeth and is baptised, 
 shall be saved ;" and I observe also, that in the 
 verse which immediately follows, he declares only 
 
50 Baptism of Adults, 
 
 that " he that believeth not shall be damned." 
 But the only conclusion which I should feel my- 
 self authorized to deduce from this altered form 
 of expression would be, that both faith and bap- 
 tism are necessary to salvation, whilst baptism 
 without faith, though it maketh us Christians^ 
 will not, as Christians, be effectual to redeem us 
 from damnation. The connection in which the 
 declarations stand with each other, appear to me 
 to prove only, that whosoever believeth and is 
 baptised shall be saved, but that " whosoever be- 
 lieveth not," though he be baptised, " shall be 
 damned." Nor have I been able in the pages of 
 the New Testament to find an instance of any 
 individual, however strong his faith, or sincere his 
 penitence, however holy his heart, or exemplary 
 his life, in which, if there was room for the admi- 
 nistration of baptism, the administration of bap- 
 tism does not seem to have been required as 
 essential to salvation. The case of the penitent 
 thief is altogether out of the question. It was 
 impossible, in the dying agonies of the cross, that 
 he should have submitted to the ordinance of bap- 
 tism, had the ordinance at that time existed as a 
 commandment of Jesus, and it is not impossible 
 that he might have been already admitted under 
 the influence of the covenant of grace by the cir- 
 cumcision of his infancy as a Jew. But even w ere 
 the case otherwise, it is an example of such a 
 
Baptism of Adults, 5 1 
 
 peculiar nature as cannot with propriety be ad- 
 mitted in almost any of its circumstances as a 
 precedent for the direction of future ages. But, 
 on the other hand, I can find many unequivocal 
 instances, which seem to enforce, beyond the pos- 
 sibility of resistance, the great, if not the indis- 
 pensable, necessity of baptism, wherever it may, 
 and wherever it is confessed that it ought to be 
 had. 
 
 The conduct of Jesus himself, and the reasons 
 which he condescended to assign for that conduct, 
 are of course the first that occur to tlie recollec- 
 tion of any one. John had a commission to bap- 
 tise with the baptism of repentance. Repentance 
 was of all things the most unnecessary for Jesus, 
 who knew no sin. Yet did this sinless person 
 submit to the baptism of repentance, because as 
 he himself expressly remarked, " it becometh us 
 to fulfil all righteousness," to do every thing, and 
 to submit to every rite and ceremony which has 
 either been directly ordained by God himself, by 
 a prophet of God, or by the Church, in confor- 
 mity to God's will. The merit and advantages 
 of this act were instantaneously made visible. He 
 was immediately declared to be the beloved Son 
 of God, beloved still more by this additional 
 proof of his obedience; and the Spirit of God 
 descended and rested upon him. What thus be- 
 came the Master may well become the servant, 
 
52 Baptism of Adults. 
 
 be he who he may. The disciple is not above 
 his Lord, and the disciple cannot consequently be 
 considered as exempt from the performance of 
 that rite, a submission to which was deemed by 
 his Lord, a necessary ingredient in the fulfilment 
 of righteousness. 
 
 The application of the baptism of Jesus by 
 John, as a proof of the necessity of Christian 
 baptism, may possibly be considered as not strictly 
 relevant, because it refers to a transaction which 
 took place before baptism had been elevated into 
 a Christian sacrament. But I cannot perceive 
 that such a circumstance can make any further 
 alteration, than that of increasing the force of 
 the argument, and the propriety of the conclu- 
 sion. For if the baptism of John was worthy of 
 such reverential obedience, and capable of pro- 
 ducing such beneficial effects, how much more 
 binding, and holy, and efficacious must not the 
 baptism of Jesus be ? This, however, is a matter 
 of but little consequence, for in turning again to 
 the records of the New Testament, we find from 
 the tenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles 
 (v. 44 to 48) that even those who had received the 
 most extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, and 
 thus been honoured with the public testimony of 
 God to their inward baptispi, were not on that 
 account at all relieved from the necessity of a 
 submission to the external ordinance. Cornelius 
 
Baptism of Adults. 53 
 
 was a just and a devout man, and a man of cha- 
 rity, and his alms and his prayers went up for 
 a memorial before God. Yet his justice, and 
 his devotion, and his charity, instead of render- 
 ing the administration of baptism cither ineffec- 
 tual or unnecessary, were pronounced by the 
 angel of the vision to be but an additional reason 
 why he ought to be baptised, " Send men to 
 Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is 
 Peter : he will tell thee what thou oughtest to do." 
 Cornelius obeyed the direction, and Peter de- 
 clared that what he ought to do, was to be bap- 
 tised, making the miraculous descent of the Holy 
 Ghost the very ground and reason of his decision. 
 *' These men," said he, " have received the 
 Holy Ghost as well as we ; Can any man forbid 
 water that they should not be baptised ?" Those 
 who bad been pronounced worthy of being made 
 Christians by the testimony of an extraordinary 
 demonstration from heaven, he considered, even 
 though Gentiles, as worthy, and more especially 
 bound to make themselves to bo so, by an obe- 
 dience to that holy rite wiiich Jesus had insti- 
 tuted for the reception of his disciples. 
 
 But the most satisfactory proof both of the 
 reahty and of the reason of the necessity of bap- 
 tism, may be drawn from an investigation of the 
 conversion and subsequent baptism of St, Paul, 
 
 D 
 
54 Baptism of Adults, 
 
 Of all the conversions which have been re- 
 corded, that of St. Paul is the most unquestion- 
 ably authentic and astonishing. He verily thought 
 that he ought to do many things contrary to tiie 
 name of Jesus of Nazareth. " Wherefore as he 
 went to Damascus (with authority from the chief 
 priest to persecute this way unto death), suddenly 
 there shined round about him a light from hea- 
 ven, and he fell to the earth (trembling and asto- 
 nished) and said, Lord, what wilt thou have 
 me to do ? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, 
 and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told 
 thee what thou must do. And there was a certain 
 disciple at Damascus, named Ananias, and to 
 him said the Lord in a vision, Arise, and go 
 and enquire for one called Saul of Tarsus ; for 
 behold he prayeth. He is a chosen vessel 
 unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles 
 and Kings. And Ananias went his way, and en- 
 tered into the house, and said, Brotlier Saul, 
 the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee 
 in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that 
 thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with 
 the Holy Ghost, And now, why tarriest thou ? 
 Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy sins, 
 calling on the name of the Lord. And he arose 
 and was baptised." The first thing which may 
 be deduced from this narrative is, the undoubted 
 
 a 
 
Baptism of Adiilis, .. S5 
 
 sincerity with which St. Paul repented and be- 
 lieved the Gospel, a sincerity which is most sa- 
 tisfactorily proved by his words, by his conduct, 
 and by the declarations of God ; by his words, 
 in addressing Jesus as his Lord ; by his conduct, 
 in that he was three days without sight, and 
 neither did eat nor drink ; by the declaration of 
 God, who openly approved his prayer, and pro- 
 nounced him to be a chosen vessel for the pro- 
 . pagation of the religion which he had embraced. 
 From a faithless Jew he became a faithful Chris- 
 tian ; from a persecutor a penitent ; from one, 
 whose lips yet breathed out threatening and 
 slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, he 
 became humbled, convicted, and convinced. Yet 
 with all these marks and testimonies of a real 
 conversion of the heart and the understanding; tes- 
 timonies which Heaven itself vouchsafed to com- 
 municate to mankind, still one thing was wanting 
 to redeem him from the bond of iniquity. The 
 thing which he was appointed to do was to be 
 baptised, and the object of that baptism is ex- 
 pressly stated to have been, that he might wash 
 away his sins, and receive the fulness of the Holy 
 Ghost. With all the qualifications, therefore, 
 which adorn a worthy member of the Christian 
 covenant, he was not actually in possession of 
 the blessings of that covenant, because he had 
 not actually made himself a Christian by his sub- 
 
 D 2 
 
36 Baptism of Adults, 
 
 mission to the ceremonial ordinance of baptism. 
 The grace of the Gospel was suspended upon the 
 administration of a sacrament, and before his 
 baptism he had neither washed away his sins, nor 
 been filled with the Holy Ghost. Doubtless, the 
 sins of St. Paul were already forgiven in the 
 counsels of the Almighty, even whilst he perse- 
 cuted the way of the Gospel unto death. But 
 that forgiveness was neither visibly sealed, nor 
 formally conferred, nor actually received by him 
 until his baptism by Ananias. Pardon must in 
 every case be granted in the mind of the judge 
 before it is communicated either in fact or in 
 form to the criminal. How long or how short 
 that period may be is uncertain and various ; but 
 some space of time must always intervene be- 
 tween the intention and the act, between the vir- 
 tual and the absolute pardon of an offence. And 
 if the pardon be made by a declaration of the 
 offended being, to depend upon the performance 
 of some rltej as well as the possession of some 
 qualifications, the performance of that rite, how- 
 ever generally inefficacious and insignificant in 
 itself, becomes as indispensable, in all ordinary 
 instances at least, to the completion of the 
 pardon, as the possession of those qualifications, 
 however important or meritorious. For the law 
 is in this case entirely in the hands and at the 
 disposition of the judge, to forgive or withhold 
 
Baptism of Adults. 37 
 
 his forgiveness upon any conditions which he may 
 choose, and those conditions are equally binding, 
 whether they consist in moral or ceremonial acts. 
 Now we find, that the thing which was appointed 
 as a condition to St. Paul, the thing which he 
 was told he must do, to wash away his sins, was 
 to be baptised. Baptism therefore to St. Paul, 
 in the situation in which he was placed, became 
 an indispensable condition of the remission of 
 sin, without which he neither was nor would have 
 been forgiven, either in fact o: in form. For he 
 knew and he perceived the obligation of the sacra- 
 ment; and he knew and perceived that he had 
 an opportunity of obtaining the celebration of the 
 rite ; and if, under these circumstances, he had 
 either presumptuously refused or wilfully avoided 
 the performance of the command, his sins would 
 not have been washed away at all ; neither were 
 they really and thoroughly washed away with all 
 his penitence, and prayers, and fastings, and faith, 
 until the ceremony had been fulfilled. But he was 
 not disobedient to the heavenly vision. He 
 arose and was baptised, and forgiven ; and as a 
 consequence and an evidence of that forgiveness, 
 he was filled with the Holy Ghost. That mea- 
 sure of the Spirit, which was necessary to enable 
 him to fulfill the duties anttctdent to baptism, 
 the grace of repentance towards God and faith 
 towards the Lord Jesus Christ, it cannot be de^ 
 
3 S Baptism of Adults. 
 
 nied that he had already received ; for he both 
 repented and believed ; and we know, that " we 
 are not sufficient of ourselves to do anv thinor as 
 of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God." But 
 a greater measure of the Spirit was given to him 
 at his baptism than he had enjoyed before ; a mea- 
 sure sufficient to enable him to grow in grace and 
 in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to 
 fulfil to the utmost the various duties which are 
 consistent and consequent upon baptism. " He 
 was filled with the Holy Ghost," so far as he was 
 either capable of receiving or of using it ; " and 
 straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, 
 that he is the Son of God, and increased the 
 more in strength, proving that this is the very 
 Christ." The effects of baptism upon St. Paul 
 may therefore be most accurately described in 
 the words by which our Church has defined the 
 nature of a sacrament. It was an outward and 
 visible sign of the remission of his sin, and the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost; and though not the 
 reason for which, yet the means by which, both 
 in fact and in form, he received the same, and a 
 pledge to assure him thereof. 
 
 From this investigation we may very fairly con- 
 clude, that to every one, who is placed in similar 
 circumstances with St. Paul, the sacrament of 
 baptism is alike necessary and alike useful. To 
 every adult, who perceives the obligation, and 
 
Bhptism of Adults, 39 
 
 has an opportunity offered him of submitting to 
 the rite, it is indispensable not only that he be- 
 lieve and repent, but that he believe, repent, ajid 
 be baptised for the remission of sin. It is bap- 
 tism which is the crown and the seal of the whole, 
 without which, when it may be had, and when it 
 is Jcnown that it ought to be had, the rest are in- 
 efficacious to admit us to the benefits of the co- 
 venant. Grace, no doubt, is given to us, as to 
 St. Paul, to repent and believe before we have 
 been baptised ; but it is in baptism alone that 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost is confirmed and in- 
 creased, according to our capacity for receiving 
 and improving it. Pardon also may, no doubt, 
 have been virtually granted by God, before we 
 have been baptised ; but in baptism only is it 
 visibly sealed, in baptism only is it actually con- 
 ferred ; in baptism only is it actually received 
 by man. But the reason of this necessity and 
 efficacy is to be sought for solely in the ap- 
 pointment of God, who has thought fit in his 
 wisdom to ordain baptism to be the ceremonial^ 
 as he has ordained faith and penitence to be the 
 moral conditions of our salvation. It is a sacra- 
 ment, therefore, in the most legitimate sense of 
 the word, an outward siijn of the forgiveness of 
 sins, and of the gift of the Holy Ghost; and, 
 though not the cause meritorious for which that 
 grace is granted, yet, most undoubtedly, a means 
 
40 Baptism of Adults. 
 
 instrumental by which we receive the same, a& 
 well as a pledge to assure us thereof. 
 
 This is the doctrine of the text and of the 
 Church, and therefore, though it be a doctrine 
 which both may be and has been perverted to 
 the worst of purposes, we dare not shrink from 
 declaring it as true. We remember, that the 
 best of God's gifts have been equally abused, 
 that it is a misfortune which it shares in common 
 with Christianity itself; and we can only lament, 
 that the weakness and wickedness of man should 
 draw the waters of bitterness from the wells of 
 salvation. 
 
DISCOURSE III. 
 
 THE PROPRIETY AND EFFICACY OP THE BAP- 
 TISM OF INFANTS. 
 
 MARK X. 14. 
 
 Suffer the little children to come unto we, and 
 forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of 
 God, 
 
 VV E have obtained a clear and correct concep- 
 tion both of the foundation and the extent of the 
 necessity of baptism to the salvation of adults, 
 and drawn out a scheme of its obligations and 
 effects which, so far as it relates to them, would 
 appear in every moral point of view to be entirely 
 unobjectionable. 
 
 But still there remains another both very diffi- 
 cult and very important enquiry. All those of 
 whom we have hitherto spoken have been sup- 
 posed capable of attaining the qualifications re- 
 quired in a recipient of baptism. Why then are 
 subjects incapable of these qualifications baptised 
 at all ? Why has the Church appointed for infants 
 
42 Baptism of Infants. 
 
 the celebration of a sacrament, which demands 
 that penitence of which the sinlessness of a child 
 has no need, and that faith which the under- 
 standing of a child cannot possibly attain ? Or, 
 what are those effects which can possibly flow 
 from the bare administration of the rite to an un- 
 intelligent child? 
 
 It ih precisely upon the incapacity of children 
 to acquire the graces of repentance and faith, 
 that we may best defend the propriety of infant 
 baptism. The custom of the Church, the testi- 
 mony of the Fathers, and the probable and peiw 
 suasive arguments, which have been so frequently 
 and forcibly urged from the analogy of circum- 
 cision and the general language of Scripture, in 
 speaking of the baptism of zvhole households and 
 nations, mav well be considered as sufficient to 
 justify any Church in adopting, and any indivi- 
 dual in acquiescing in the continuance of a prac- 
 tice, which has been so widely established and so 
 freely allowed. But its strict and legitimate pro^ 
 prieti/ can only be built upon its consistency with 
 the declarations and doctrines of the Gospel ; 
 can only be made convincing to the mind and 
 binding upon the conscience, by shewing that it 
 does not interfere with any of those principles 
 upon which the efficacy of the sacrament is made 
 in^\genefal to depend. We must, therefore, 
 again return to the doctrine of covenants, and 
 
Baptism of Infants. 43 * 
 
 examine whether the Gospel be a covenant of 
 that harsh and unbending nature as to require, in 
 every case, the literal fultilment of the conditions, 
 and to make the actual possession of repentance 
 and faith the universal and indispensable pre-requi- 
 sites of the wholesome operation of baptism. For 
 if that be the case, it is evident that infants, not 
 actuall}' possessing these graces, are not \vortli\^ 
 recipients. But if there be any probable induce- 
 ments to lead to a different conclusion, we may 
 very fairly be permitted to consider the natural 
 incapacity of children to place any wilful bar to 
 the operation of the covenant, as a sufficient proof 
 of their worthiness to be admitted under its in- 
 fluence. 
 
 " Except ye repent ye shall all perish ;" and 
 *' he that beiieveth not," however duly and legi- 
 timately baptised, " shall be damned." From 
 these and from similar passages in the New Tes- 
 tament, it would seem as if repentance and taith 
 ■were positively laid down as the indispensable 
 conditions or qualifications of the beneficial and 
 saving efficacy of the Gospel covenant in every 
 case ; and consequently, that in every case, the 
 bare absence of these conditions and qualifications . 
 ought to be regarded as an insuperable bar to a 
 participation in its blessings ; and were the 
 Gospel a common covenant between man and 
 man, such would undoubtedly be the conclusiori 
 
44 Baptism of Infants. 
 
 we ought to form. Were the Gospel an ordi- 
 nary covenant between two equal parties entering 
 into rnutual obligations, and conferring mutual 
 benefits, it would follow, that it could be of no 
 avail whatever in any instance in which the con- 
 ditions were not strictly and literally fulfilled ; 
 in any instance in which there was not both actual 
 faith and actual penitence ; and thus the cove- 
 nant would be made of none effect to every indi- 
 vidual, who from circumstances was incapable of 
 either ; whether those circumstances originated in 
 himself, or were the unavoidable effect of the si- 
 tuation in which he was placed, or of some natural 
 defect in his created faculties. The simple want 
 either of faith or penitence would, in that case, 
 be an absolute bar to the beneficial operation of 
 the covenant. But the Gospel is a covenant of 
 grace, a dispensation of mercy from a superior 
 to an inferior being; from God who has unre- 
 stricted power over all his creatures, to man who 
 is one ot those creatures. So far therefore from 
 being considered as strict and undeviating in its 
 terms, it ought always to be interpreted in favour 
 of those for v,-hose benefit it was revealed, and 
 explained with the utmost latitude, which is con- 
 sistent with the attributes and intentions and de- 
 clarations of the Being, from whose benevolence 
 i-t sprung. None ought to be excluded frosn the 
 means and oppovtunitics of being made disciples 
 
Baptism of Infants. 45 
 
 of the Gospel, who may with propriety and pro- 
 bability be comprehended within the limits of in- 
 finite mercy, and are not positively excluded by 
 the terms of the covenant, or by any legiti- 
 mate conclusion which may be drawn from those 
 terms. 
 
 It becomes therefore a most important and ne- 
 cessary part of our investigation, to enquire upon 
 what grounds and to what extent the conditions 
 of repentance and faith are exacted from man in 
 the Gospel of Christ; and we must endeavour to 
 determine both in what sense and to what persons 
 those conditions are declared to be indispensable 
 to a participation in the blessings of the covenant, 
 and by consequence, pre-requisites of the whole- 
 some operation of baptism. 
 
 1. In the first place then it may safely be as- 
 serted, that faith and repentance are not the me- 
 ritorious conditions of the salvation of the meni(- 
 bers of Christianity ; and if this distinction had 
 been carefully observed and openly allowed, it 
 might not perhaps have altogether precluded that 
 difference of opinion, which has so long been en- 
 tertained upon the qualifications of baptism; but 
 it certainly would have prevented much of that 
 animosity to which this difference of opinion has 
 given rise. For, every thing that we are, and 
 every thing that we do, it is by the grace of God. 
 We are not sufficient of ourselves to do anv 
 
•46 Baptimi of Infants, 
 
 . thiiifT as of ourselves ; and therefore not even to 
 turn and prepare ourselves for a participation in 
 the redemption of Jesus, by the acquisition of the 
 virtues of repentance and faith. Our sufficiency 
 for that, as well as for any otlier good work, must 
 be of God ; and consequently, being the gift of 
 his goodness, cannot claim from his justice the 
 reward of redemption as a debt. For no reward 
 can be said, in strictness, to be due from the giver 
 to the possessor of a gift, merely for the sake and 
 on account of that gift. It would appear, there- 
 fore, that repentance and faith, though they may 
 be described and considered as the conditions of 
 the Gospel, are not, however perfect and com- 
 plete in themselves, the causes for which, from 
 their intrinsic value, we become in ris-ht entitled 
 to an admission into the kingdom of heaven. 
 And hence it necessarily follows, that there is no 
 imperative reason for the exclusion of infants 
 from the sacrament of admission, on the ground 
 of their want of those qualitications. For, the 
 efficiency of those qualilications does not result 
 from their inherent merit, and their want, there- 
 :fore, does not in itself imply any absolute want of 
 merit in the recipient of baptism. 
 ;.^.2. Having thus pointed out the incorrectness 
 of that opinion, which would build the worthiness 
 of the recipient of baptism upon the merit of the 
 cequired. conditions, and exclude infants from the 
 
Bapfisin of Infants. 47 
 
 sacrament because they are incapable of that 
 merit, we would observe, in the second place, 
 that it is equally incorrect as an universal propo- 
 sition to say, that the qualifications of faith and 
 repentance are so indispensably the conditions of 
 our admission into the kingdom of heaven, that it 
 is impossible that any one should be admitted 
 without them. For the extent of every propo- 
 sition, however unrestricted in its language, must 
 always be limited in its application by the nature 
 of the subject, and the circumstances of the in- 
 dividuals to whom it refers ; and if a command- 
 ment, with a promise or a judgement annexed, 
 be uttered by a being, whose attributes and in- 
 tentions are known, the intentions and attributes 
 of that being, combined with the powers and ca- 
 pacities of those who are the objects of the com- 
 mand, must be made the measure by which we 
 are to decide upon the necessity and consequences 
 of obedience or disobedience in each particular 
 case. However positive, therefore, the words of 
 our Saviour may seem to be, and however dis- 
 tinctly and decidedly they may appear to convey 
 the certain condemnation of all who are destitute 
 of repentance and faith, we must be careful to 
 confine their application within those limits, which 
 the comprehensive benevolence and perfection of 
 their Author prescribe. The Scriptures expressly 
 declare, that the goodness of God would not that 
 
48 Baptism of Infants. 
 
 any should perish. It is therefore the evident will 
 and wish of the Deity, that «// should participate in 
 the blessings of the covenant, and consequently, 
 that all should be admitted into that covenant by 
 the sacrament of baptism, which is the only ap- 
 pointed means of attaining that end. And as the 
 power of the Deity is infinite, he ^vill, of course, 
 communicate the blessings of that sacrament to 
 all who are not excluded by something, which, 
 being inconsistent with the other perfections of his 
 nature, may induce him to restrain the exertion 
 of his power. Now the justice of God requires 
 only the absence of all moral guilt ; his holiness 
 only the absence of every unholy thing, and the 
 wisdom of his mercy will never demand from any 
 dependent being the performance of duties, which 
 he could neither know nor fulfil ; or punish him 
 for a want, which it was out of his power to 
 remedy. The want of faith and repentance, 
 therefore, in an incapable and innocent recipient 
 of baptism, as they are unaccompanied by any 
 nioral guilt, and imply not the existence of any 
 unholy disposition, cannot possibly be regarded 
 as any solid obstacles to their participation in the 
 blessings of the covenant into which they are ad- 
 mitted. But the conclusion is very different, when 
 we consider the case of intelligent adults. Con- 
 scious of guilt, and capable of faith ; with power 
 to comprehend, and powers to fulfil what is 
 
 8 
 
baptism of Infants. 4p 
 
 required, the mere absence of faith and repentance 
 in them proves the presence of the opposites, and 
 implies beyond the possibility of a doubt, that 
 their hearts are still in a state of wilful impeni- 
 tence and wilfu] unbelief, which are insurmount- 
 able obstacles to the mercies of a holy Being. 
 Under these circumstances, therefore, we venture 
 to place within the influence of the blessings, 
 which arise from an admission into the covenant 
 of the Gospel by baptism, all who from a sinless 
 state have no need of repentance, and all, who 
 from any intellectual cause, are under an incapa- 
 city of belief. For God can^ when we look upon 
 his power'; may, when we look upon his holiness; 
 and zciU, doubtless, when we reflect upon his good- 
 ness, dispense with the conditions he has pre- 
 scribed to his people; and communicate the 
 blessings of the Christian covenant to all who, 
 like infants, do nothing to oppose the kindness 
 of his will ; to ail who do, not oppose to his be- 
 neficent intentions the zvilful, and therefore cul- 
 pable, bar of impenitence and unbelief. We hold, 
 that the saving mercies of an all-merciful Creator 
 are not presumptuously to be limited by the ne- 
 cessary and natural imperfections of the creature, 
 and thus establish the propriety of infant bap- 
 tism, so far as it is affected by their want of re- 
 pentance and faith, upon the very ground of their 
 incapacity to attain those graces. For as it i.^ 
 
 E 
 
50 Baptism of Infants. 
 
 with regard to the necessity of the sacrament of 
 baptism, so it is with regard to the necessity of, 
 what from the imperfections of language we are 
 obliged to call, the conditions of that sacrament. 
 There may be a want of the sacrament, or a 
 want of the conditions ; a want of the ceremonial, 
 or of the moral qualifications of a Christian. But 
 if the want be not wilful or culpable, the goodness 
 of God will not regard it as a bar to the operation 
 of his covenant, or the participation of his grace. 
 Indeed, were we to exact in every instance the 
 possession and presence of those qualities, which 
 are the ge/zer^/ conditions of the beneficial efficacj 
 of any ordinance, we should condemn even our 
 Saviour himself as unworthy to have received the 
 baptism of repentance from St. John, and cast a 
 censure upon the Deity for having testified his 
 approbation of the deed by an open descent of 
 the Holy Ghost. The real fact, however, is this, 
 that every institution of God will work the work 
 for which it was ordained tipon every recipient, 
 who does not oppose the object, and hinder the 
 operation of the rite ; and consequently, that faith 
 and repentance are the indispensable pre-requi^ 
 sites of baptism in those cases and mdividuals 
 alone, in which their absence implies a state of 
 impenitence and unbelief, or some other evil dis- 
 position of mind, which the holiness of the Deity 
 cannot consistently overlook. The conditions of a 
 
ISaptism of hifants. 51 
 
 sacrament, like the sacrament itself, are only ge- 
 nerally necessary to the salvation of man ; and 
 this is evidently a necessity, which does not pro- 
 perly apply to the circumstances of a child in the 
 administration of baptism. 
 
 3. If then the want of repentance and faith is 
 not in itself a sufficient proof of the unworthi- 
 ness of a recipient of baptism, the arguments 
 against the propriety of infant baptism, which are 
 raised upon that foundation alone, must necessa- 
 rily be given up, and we must oppose the prac- 
 tice, either upon the ground of some inherent and 
 natural unworthiness in the child, or upon the 
 impossibility of his giving that consent to the per- 
 formance of the act, which we have stated to be- 
 long to the ratification of a covenant. 
 
 Now the natural unworthiness of a child, 
 w^ho has been guilty of no actual crime, and hav- 
 ing known no law, can have transgressed no law, 
 to become a member of the Christian covenant, 
 and a partaker in the blessings it conveys to its 
 members, can only be derived from that moral 
 stain, which, as the offspring of Adam, it inherits 
 from the disobedience of a fallen parent; and the 
 solution of the difficulty, which arises from this 
 objection to the practice ot intant baptism, would 
 seem, therefore, to involve an enquiry into all the 
 various and fatal consequences of the original 
 sin. But the unequivocal language of the Scrip- 
 
 E S 
 
52 Baptism of Infants. 
 
 tures has fortunately removed the necessity of thig 
 intricate and obscure investigation. For they 
 have taught us, that whatever may have been the 
 effects of the transgression of Adam upon his pos- 
 terity, and however widely and deeply it may 
 have entailed upon us the curse and corruption of 
 our nature, that curse and corruption are neither 
 so pernicious or suiful as to make us unworthy to 
 participate in the blessings of the redemption of 
 Jesus, independent of the commission of actual 
 sin. The innocence of the infant is expressly de- 
 clared by our Saviour himself to be the peculiar 
 object of the mercy of God ; that very disposition 
 ■which he requires in those whom he intends to 
 adopt into the family of his Son. " Whosoever 
 bhall not receive the kingdom of God as a little 
 child, he shall not enter therein ;" he cannot be 
 redeemed through the blood of the covenant. 
 
 o 
 
 " For of such," as are children in reality, or of 
 such as resemble them in simplicity of mind and 
 purity of heart, and of such only, says he, " is 
 the kinn;dom of God." However born in sin, 
 therefore, and the children of wrath, it is not a 
 sin so grievous, or a wrath so heavy, as to pre- 
 clude the children of men, merely as such, from 
 being made the children of grace by the legal 
 administration of baptism. For wherever the 
 Gospel has explicitly pronounced upon the fitness 
 of an individual to receive the benefits of an or- 
 

Baptism of hifants. 53 
 
 dinance, we may safely conclude that individual 
 to be fit to receive the ordinance itself. An ac- 
 knowledged worthiness to partake in the end, 
 which has been proposed, implies a worthiness 
 also to partake in the means, which have been 
 appointed for the attainment of the end. 
 
 4. So far, therefore, as the worthiness of the 
 recipient of baptism is of a moral nature, chil- 
 dren are included in the number of worthy reci- 
 pients by the unequivocal testimony of Scripture 
 itself; and if we still argue for their being re- 
 jected from the administration of the ordinance, 
 it must be upon the ground of their incapacity to 
 assent to the terms of the religion, into which they 
 are initiated by the rite. 
 
 There exists, I apprehend, a considerable d«»- 
 gree of misconception with regard to tlie necessity 
 oi expressing our consent to the conditions of the 
 Gospel, and the part it bears in the work of 
 our salvation. Wherever Christianity has been 
 preached and believed, or a sufficient reason and 
 opportunity for belief afforded to man, his agree- 
 ment is presumed from the natural obligation of 
 every created being to acquiesce in the proposi- 
 tions of a wise and merciful Creator; and, though 
 the Church requires from every adult a positive 
 and verbal assent to the terms of the covenant, 
 into which he is to be initiated by baptism, it is 
 <;nly that she may be assured, as far as it is pos- 
 
54i Baptism of Infants. 
 
 sible to obtain an assurance upon the subject, 
 that she is not administering the sacrament to 
 an unworthy recipient. It is not from any idea 
 of the power, which she conceives the avowal of 
 that consent can posbibly possess over the effi- 
 cacy of the rite ; but because she would be jus- 
 tified in the performance of her sacred work, and 
 avoid the guilt of prostituting the holy ordinance 
 to one, who was destitute of the qualifications it 
 requires. In the same riianner, she requires the 
 consent of the sureties for the infant recipient; 
 not because she considers the avowal of that con- 
 sent as necessary to the immediate operation of 
 baptism; but because she thus secures, to the 
 utmost of her power^ tiie instruction of the child 
 in its duties and its privileges; and because she 
 knows, that if he be so instructed and trained, he 
 is " bound to believe and to do as they have pro- 
 mised for him." That this is the real reason of 
 her conduct is sufficiently evident from the omission 
 of sponsors in the practice of private baptism, 
 which she permits only to be administered ia 
 cases of extreme necessity ; in cases where the 
 weakness and disease of the child may render it 
 more than probable, that death will remove him 
 before he can understand the nature and the du- 
 ties of his calling. The Church there rests upon 
 the natural obligation of every human being to 
 ponsent to the terras of every covenant, which 
 
Baptism of Infants. 55 
 
 may have been revealed from the beneficence of 
 the Ahnighty in his favour. She very justly con- 
 ceives the assent of the infant to be imphed in 
 the unalterable relation which, as a creature, it 
 bears to the Creator, and therefore waves the 
 demand of any formal declaration, under a con- 
 viction, that such a declaration could not, even if 
 expressed, desewe the mercies of God ; or, be- 
 cause absent, be an impediment to the operation 
 of his grace. For, the benefits of the Christian 
 covenant flow entirely from the benevolence and 
 power of the superior party in the contract ; and 
 the concurrence of the inferior is, therefore, under 
 the circumstances of the case, by no means essen- 
 tial to its efficacy. The blessings may be conferred 
 without either the knowledge or consent of the 
 blessed. The holiness of the Benefactor alone 
 requires, that there should be nothing unholy to 
 prevent the exercise of his power. 
 
 From these considerations it would appear, 
 that there is in infants no moral delect to render 
 them incapable ot receiving the grace of God, and 
 no physical defect to place a bar to the operation 
 of the covenant of the Gospel in their favour. 
 Intants therefore arc, in every sense of the word, 
 to be regarded as icorthy recipients of the sacra- 
 ment of baptism ; and it necessarily follows, as a 
 consequence of this admission, that all the bene- 
 ficial results of baptism which they want, and of 
 
66 Baptism of Infants. 
 
 which they are capable, nill be communicated 
 to them at the moment of its reception ; because 
 they have neither the will nor the power to hinder 
 its effects upon their soul. The beneficial results 
 of baptism are the remission of sins, and the gift 
 of the Holy Ghost. In order, therefore, to un^ 
 derstand the benefits of the sacrament in this case, 
 we must examine into the necessities and capa- 
 cities of children ; their necessities for pardon, 
 and their capacities for grace. 
 
 Now the only sin, under which the innocence 
 of a child can be conceived to labour ; and the 
 only sin, therefore, from the influence of which it 
 can require an immediate liberation, is that of 
 original sin ; and of that we are only so far and 
 in such a sense guilty, as to be rendered liable 
 to its general consequences upon the happiness 
 and holiness of human nature. All infants there- 
 fore are, by their reception through baptism into 
 the number of the elect, relieved from those con- 
 sequences in such a manner, and to such a de- 
 gree, as is consistent with the attributes of the 
 Deity, and the promises which he has revealed, 
 through Jesus Christ, to redeem Adam and his 
 posterity from ruin. Now, the first effect of this 
 redemption, through grace, is the remission of 
 that death, which was the direct and appointed 
 penalty of our first parents' crime. " For, as by 
 one man siri entered into th^ world, and death by 
 
Baptism of Infants. 67 
 
 sin : so by the righteousness of one, the free gift 
 came upon all men to the justification of life. 
 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. 
 Judgment was by one offence to condemnation ; 
 but the free gift is of many offences unto justifi- 
 cation, through the blood of Jesus;" and upon 
 the conditions of the covenant ; conditions which 
 are always implied, when our justification is 
 spoken of in the Gospel. The infant, therefore, 
 Avho by baptism is made a member of the cove- 
 nant, is not only relieved from the punishment 
 which was entailed upon him by the transgression 
 of Adam, but also placed in a state vti cojiditional 
 salvation, with regard to his future and actual 
 gins, and entitled, like every other receiver of the 
 sacrament, to the pardon of his own individual 
 violation of the law, whenever by earnest repentance 
 and sincere belief, he shall have renewed to himself 
 sn interest in the sacrifice of the cross. Such is 
 the nature and extent of that remission of sins, 
 which we may safely pronounce to be the uni' 
 t'ersal concomitant of infant baptism. 
 
 But there is a very considerable degree of dif- 
 ficulty attending the consideration of the other 
 benefit of baptism; and it would seem almost 
 impossible to determine, with any tolerable ac- 
 curacy, that precise and e^rict portion of the 
 Holy Spirit, which may be supposed to accompany 
 the administration of the rite to an unintelligent 
 
58 Baptism of Infants. 
 
 mind. The necessities of a chilii would scarce 
 appear to demand, and the capacity ot" a child 
 ivoLild ahnost appear to deny, the use ot the 
 gift, and the suhject must theretore remain in an 
 undecided state for ever, unless we can positively 
 ascertain the precise degree both of will and 
 power to act, which is possessed in the early and 
 unthinking stages of infancy. This, however, is 
 certain, if the principles we have already ad- 
 vanced can be at all relied upon, that the power 
 of the Spirit to perform their duty is (he necessary 
 consequence of baptism in every worthy reci- 
 pient; and that infants are to be numbered 
 amongst these worthy recipients, I cannot doubt. 
 To every infant, therefore, there must be commu- 
 nicated in baptism, together with the remission 
 of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, according to 
 their capability of receiving and using it ; toge- 
 ther with a freedom from the punishment; a 
 means of redemption also from the consequences 
 of original sin. Infant baptism we maintain to 
 be universally attended with such a measure of 
 the Holy Ghost, as may correct and enlighten the 
 gradually opening faculties of the child, with such 
 a measure of grace, as may enable it to bring the 
 instruction which is afforded it to good etfect, as 
 may enable it both to will and to do such things as 
 are pleasing to God, and profitable to man ; as 
 may enable it, if diligent ly used, to attain a real 
 

Baptism of Infants, 69 
 
 sanctification of heart ; and, if duly improved, to 
 go on from strength to strength, perfecting ho- 
 liness in the fear and by the power of the Lord ; 
 and so, finally, to carry the answer of a good 
 conscience towards God through life, and through 
 death, unto the day of judgment, and befoie the 
 tribunal of Cinist. These blessings we do main- 
 tain to be the uniformly concomitant graces of 
 infant baptism ; and upon this foundation we 
 build the propriety of the practice, and under 
 these circumstances we boldly ask, " Who can 
 forbid water that these should not be baptised," 
 whom the Lord of Heaven hath himself declared 
 to be meet partakers of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Whether the benefits which we hold to be 
 thus conferred upon infants in baptism, would 
 have been equally or at all conferred without the 
 administration of the rite, we cannot tell. Doubt- 
 Jess the mercy of God is great ; doubtless none 
 will be condemned to everlasting misery; doubt- 
 less none will be deprived of their portion of 
 everlasting happiness, but for causes which may 
 justify the ways and works of the Almighty. We 
 may believe, we may hope, and we may trust, 
 that no child shall be bereaved of the comfortable 
 assurance of salvation for that which arises not 
 from Its own lault ; and that therefore the defect 
 of baptism ought not to be held damnatory to an 
 innocent child. But this can be no satisfactory 
 
60 Baptism of In funis. 
 
 reason for the uniform and premeditated omission 
 of that rite ; which, besides the incidental advan- 
 tage of obtaining additional security for the godly 
 instruction of the recipient, and shewing our re- 
 verence and submission to an ordinance of the 
 Lord, changes our doubt into certainty ; and, in- 
 stead of thinking, makes us sure, tliat our chil- 
 dren have the promise of eternal life. Though it 
 should be proved, therefore, beyond the possibi- 
 lity of a doubt, that the practice of infant bap- 
 tism is not absolutely commanded in Scripture, 
 yet it must be allowed at the same time, that 
 there is nothing in Revelation to forbid, and every 
 thing in reason to recommend it as a holy and use- 
 ful ordinance. Necessary it may not be ; but 
 proper it most undoubtedly appears to be in a. , 
 very higli degree. I would not, therefore, con- 
 demn that Church as altogether heretical and un- 
 sound, which omitted to baptise the infants of its 
 own communion ; neither would I w ithdraw frorq 
 my own, were she to forego the rite. But I 
 deem her the more prudent and pious for the 
 conduct she pursues ; and I love and revere het 
 the more for her prudence and her piety. 
 
DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 THE NATURE OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION* 
 
 JOHN iii. 3. 5. 
 
 E.vcept a man be born again, he cannot see the 
 
 kingdom of God. 
 Ejccept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 
 
 he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
 
 We have hitherto abstained from the use of 
 every controverted term, and in endeavouring to 
 delineate the eftects and efficacy of baptism, have 
 adopted the simplest forms of expression which 
 our language would afford, and carefully avoided 
 both the word and the subject of spiritual rege- 
 neration. Regeneration, however, appears to be 
 intimately connected with the ceremony of bap- 
 tism both by the Scriptures and the Church ; by 
 the Scriptures, in the text before us, and in a 
 corresponding passage of St. Paul ; by the 
 Church, both in her Catechism, and in her Bap- 
 tismal Offices. As Christians and as Ministers, 
 tlierefore, \ve are bound to examine this very in- 
 
62 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 tricate question, and, proceeding in the spirit 0!* 
 meekness and of charity, to labour after such a 
 definition of the term, as may at once be consis- 
 tent with the declarations of the Gospel, and 
 the plain and literal meaning of the establibhed 
 Liturgy. 
 
 Nicodemus came to Jesus by night j and Jesus 
 said unto him, " Except a man be born again of 
 water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven." This verbal union of the 
 elemental and spiritual birth would naturally lead 
 us to imagine, that they are very frequently 
 united in the time and subjects of their occur- 
 rence. But as the mere juxta-position of terms 
 does not necessarily imply any absolute or uni- 
 versal inseparability in fact, we must proceed 
 to determine the time when regeneration takes 
 place, by an examination into its nature and es- 
 sence ; for, though the point in controversy regards 
 only the period at which regeneration occurs, the 
 solution of the question depends upon the definition 
 of the word. Before therefore we proceed one sin- 
 gle step further, or pretend to solve the difficulties 
 which attend the subject of regeneration, we must 
 try to obtain a thorough understanding of the 
 thing to be done, and the advantages of doing 
 it. We must enquire faithfully, that we may 
 learn truly, what is the kingdom of heaven into 
 which we cannot enter without being born again ; 
 
Nature of Baptis7?ial Regeneration, 63 
 
 and what is that new and spiritual birth, without 
 which it cannot be obtained. 
 
 The *' kingdom of heaven" is applied in the 
 Gospel to several distinct and different subjects; 
 to the visible Church upon earth, or to the invi- 
 sible Church in heaven ; to the virtues which 
 adorn the Christian here, or to the exceeding re- 
 ward which shall be given to him hereafter. But 
 to none of these senses in particular is the ex- 
 pression limited in the text, and it ought there- 
 fore in justice to be considered, in some respects, 
 as intending them all. But as the last and most 
 important of these significations comprehends the 
 very end and aim of our being ; that, w ithout 
 which all the rest will be utterly unavailing to 
 secure the happiness of an immortal soul ; it will 
 only be requisite, upon the present occasion, to 
 enquire in what sense it is necessary that we 
 should be " born again," in order to attain to that 
 eternal rest, which is enjoyed by the glorified 
 saints above, in order that we may actually enter 
 into the literal kingdom of heaven. 
 
 The metaphors of our Saviour are seldom, if 
 ever, to be degraded into the mere ornaments of 
 speech. They are rather to be regarded as the 
 means of conveying to the mind a more definite 
 conception of the object he has in view, and re- 
 presenting some strong analogy in the thing of 
 , which he is speaking, to the leading features of 
 
64 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 the thing, to which it is compared. It is not ne- 
 cessary, that the resemblance should be strictly 
 pursued into every particular ; it is sufficient for 
 our purpose, that it be obviously and generally 
 correct. 
 
 Guided in our enquiries by this rule of inter- 
 pretation, we may observe, that there is always 
 implied in the process of the natural birth of any 
 human being, the passage of that being from a 
 state of darkness into light ; from the da^'kness of 
 the womb into the light of this material world, 
 and the simultaneous communication of the 
 means necessary for the continuance of his ex- 
 istence in that world into which he has been born. 
 This constitutes the leading characteristic of our 
 natural birth ; and, consequentl}^, to be born 
 again, and of the Spirit, if it be compared at 
 all with its prototype, must necessarily imply 
 the passage of a human being from a state of spi- 
 ritual darkness into spiritual light, and the si- 
 multaneous communication of the n}eans neces- 
 sary for the continuance of his existence in that 
 spiritual world into which he has been intro- 
 duced. 
 
 We are naturally led, therefore, by this inter- 
 pretation of the second birth, to inquire in what 
 sense the Scriptures have spoken of our passage 
 from a state of spiritual darkness into light. 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regenci^ation, 6S 
 
 *' Ye were once darkness, but now are ye light in 
 the Lord," says the Apostle St. Paul to the Ephe- 
 sians, after they had been converted and baptised 
 into the faith of Jesus Christ. What he means 
 by the use of these terms darkness and light, and 
 what is comprehended in the nature of that change 
 to which he alludes, he has very clearly and satis- • 
 factorily explained to us in the 12th and 13th 
 verses of the iid chapter. " At that time ye 
 were without Christ, being aliens from the com- 
 monwealth of Israel, and strangers from the co- 
 venant of promise, having no hope, and without 
 God in the world." This was their spiritual dark- 
 ness. " But now," continues he, " in Christ 
 Jesus, ye, who sometimes were far off, are made 
 nigh by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace." 
 And this was their spiritual light. At whatever 
 time, therefore, we are made nigh to God ; at 
 whatever time we cease to be aliens from the 
 commonwealth of Israel, and become members 
 of the covenants of promise, and begin to have 
 hope in the world, and the Lord for our God ; 
 that is the hour in which we may be said to be 
 " born again ;" because that is the hour in which 
 we pass from a state of spiritual darkness into a 
 state of spiritual light. Again, the same Apostle 
 intimates to the Colossians, chap. i. }3, 14, that 
 *' to be delivered from the power of darkness," is 
 to be " translated into the kingdom of God's dear 
 
 F 
 
66 Nature of Baptismal Regejieratian. 
 
 Son, and so to have redemption througli the blood 
 of Jesus, even the forgiveness of our sins. 
 
 Whatever, therefore, that thing may be, through 
 whose instrumentality we are translated into the 
 kingdom of the Son of God, and obtain an in- 
 terest in the redemption of the Gospel, and receive 
 the remission cjsins ; that, whether it be a Chris- 
 tian virtue or a Christian ordinance, is also the 
 means by which we may be said to be " born 
 again," because it is the means by which we pass 
 from a state of spiritual darkness into a state of 
 spiritual light ; from the dreary despair of an un- 
 pardoned criminal, to the joyful expectation of the 
 redeemed in the Lord. 
 
 But, if we have been reconciled to God by the 
 death of his Son, much more, being justified 
 throuo;h his blood shall we receive from the same 
 merciful source of Avisdom and of power, the 
 means of continuing in that state of reconciliation. 
 It would be strange indeed, if God should restore 
 us to his favour, and still leave us under a ne- 
 cessary subjection to that infirmity of the flesh, 
 and that helplessness of our nature, which would 
 inevitably alienate from us the blessing we have 
 received. It would be strange indeed, if, after 
 having cleansed us from the pollution of our 
 former sins, he should leave us under the abso- 
 lute dominion of the sanie sins for the future, 
 without the possibility of retaining tlie holiness 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regejieration. 67 
 
 we have acquired. *' We are made free from sin, 
 that we may become the servants of righteous- 
 ness." That is the object of our calling; and our 
 atonement. We know this from St. Paul, that if 
 an old man be crucified, it is " that the body of 
 sill may be destroyed, that henceforth we should 
 not serve sin," (Rom. vi. 6). Tlint is the pur- 
 pose for which our sins are pardoned, and that 
 cannot be realised^ except we be endowed with 
 the power of overcoming the temptations of the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil. 
 
 To as many as received Christ, (and all must 
 have received him, who from him have received 
 pardon of their sins) " to as many as received 
 Inm," says St. John, chap. i. 12, " to them gave 
 he the power to become the sons of God." Sanc- 
 tification, therefore, in that sense of the word, ia 
 which it implies the communication of the means 
 of attaininoj unto real holiness of life ; sanctifica- 
 tion in that sense of the word, in which it implies 
 the reception of the power by which, if diligently 
 used, we may be enabled to fulfil the precepts of 
 the Gospel, and live soberly, and righteously, and 
 godWj in this present world ; sanctification, in 
 this restricted sense of the word, cannot be sepa- 
 rated from the grace of justification, of \\hich, in 
 fact, it is a necessary consequence ; a part of the 
 same merciful system, which has been ordained 
 for the pupose of making us meet to be partakers 
 
 F 2 
 
^8 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 
 of the inheritance of the saints in light. We 
 maintainj therefore, that as in the Jit^st, so also in 
 the second birth, those who pass from a state of 
 darkness into light, by being reconciled to God, 
 through Cinist, who is the light of the spiritual 
 world, receive at the same time the means of 
 continuing their existence in that state into which 
 they are introduced. For, w ithout the reception 
 of those means, atonement would dwindle into a 
 valueless name, and reconciliation be degraded 
 into the mere shadow of a blessinif. 
 
 Now, both this justification and this sanctifi- 
 cation, which constitute the essence and, according 
 to our view of the subject form the definition of 
 the second birth, are expressly attributed in 
 ttie Scriptures of truth, to the influence and ope- 
 ration of the Holy Ghost. Sanctification unto 
 obedience, that is, for the purpose of enabling us 
 to attain unto obedience, St. Peter ascribes to 
 the Spirit (1 Pet. i. 2) ; and " ye are washed, ye 
 are sanctified, ye are justified,"' says St. Paul, 
 (1 Cor. vi. 11.) " in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
 and by the Spirit of our God." To be " born 
 again," therefore, when under the idea of that 
 second birth, we include the reception of jus- 
 tification for the past, and the means of sanctifi- 
 cation for the future, is in reality to be " bom 
 again of \.\\q Spirit,'' because he is the principal 
 agent in the production of the salutary change. 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 69 
 
 Spiritual regeneration, therefore, in the sense 
 which we have thus ventured to assign to it, 
 ultimately resolves itself into the remission of 
 sins, and the power of the Spirit to perform our 
 duty. Spiritual regeneration thus becomes, in 
 fact, equivalent to the zvholesome operation of 
 baptism ; and it was principally with a view to 
 the present question, that we entered so largely 
 into the consideration of the nature and the de- 
 gree of the efficacy of that sacrament, and the 
 subjects upon whom its blessings would be con- 
 ferred. We have only now to recal to our re- 
 membrance the principles which we laboured to 
 establish in our former enquiries, to determine 
 at once both the persons and period in which re- 
 generation takes place. We have only to admit, 
 that the administration of baptism communicates 
 to every worthy recipient the remission of sins, 
 and the gift of the Holy Ghost; in order to be 
 convinced, that w-hoever is worthily born again of 
 water, is actually born again of the Spirit. We 
 have only then to admit further, that every inno- 
 cent and incapable infant, and every penitent and 
 believing adult, is to be accounted a worthy re- 
 cipient; in order to be convinced, that every in- 
 nocent and incapable infant, and every penitent 
 and believing adult is, in reality, regenerated at 
 the time and througli the medium of liis baptism. 
 They may have lived, and moved, and had their 
 
70 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 spiritual being, even before they were baptised, 
 and so it is with every being before he is born. 
 But it was not a being in the sanje measure, or 
 of the same character, or under the same form. 
 They had not then absolutely passed from a state 
 of darkness into light, and, consequently, could 
 not be said to have absolutely " come to the 
 birth," or to have completed the act of their spi- 
 ritual regeneration. 
 
 The spiritual second birth is therefore syno- 
 nimous with baptismal regeneration; and that 
 being " born again," without which our Saviour 
 in the 2d verse declares, no man can see the 
 kingdom of God, is but one and the same thing 
 with the " being born of \Aater and of the Spirit," 
 with the union of the elemental and spiritual 
 birth, which, in the 5th verse, he declares to be 
 equally indispensable to salvation. Indispen- 
 sable however it is, not absolutely and to every 
 indiviilual, but to every one who is ['laced under 
 sim lar circumstances with Nicodemus. It is ne- 
 cessary only toeverv one, Mho has an opportunity 
 of knowing and understanding the obligation, and 
 subuiilfing to the administration of the ceremo- 
 nial oniinunce. And this is a necessity which, 
 being limited in its application according to the 
 powers of the subject, excludes from the hopes 
 of happiness in heaven neither the infant or the 
 idiot 
 
Natio^e of Baptismal Regeneration, 71 
 
 Such is the definition we have ventured to 
 assign to the term ; such the views we have been 
 led to form of the nature, and the intent, the ob- 
 jects, and the period of the occurrence of bap- 
 tismal regeneration. And that tliese views are 
 consistent in every particular with the language 
 and sentiments of the Church, to which we be- 
 long, it is almost unnecessary to mention. She 
 distinctly pronounces, that every infant who is 
 baptised, is " regenerated of the Spirit," in the 
 very act, and as the effect of his baptism. She ex- 
 plains this spiritual regeneration in her Catechism, 
 \vhen considered as the universal effect of bap- 
 tism upon infants, to be " a death unto sin, 
 and a new birth unto righteousness." This death 
 unto sin she subsequently interprets, as corre- 
 sponding to our deliverance from that " wrath 
 ■which was due unto the sin in which we were 
 born," i. e. as a remission of the guilt of the ori- 
 ginal sin. That " new birth unto righteousness," 
 she declares to be equivalent to being " made the 
 children of grace." But that she regards this 
 grace as only the means of enabling us to attain 
 unto holiness of life, and not as necessarily the 
 parent of final perseverance and everlasting sal- 
 vation, is sufficiently evident from every part of 
 her proceedings. 
 
 She prays, and she commands every one to 
 pray, in her baptismal service, that the child, 
 
72 Natwe of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 whom she has announced as regenerate of the 
 Holy Ghost, ** mtiif crucify the old man, and 
 utterly abolish the whole body of sin, and maif 
 lead the rest of his life according to this begin- 
 nining ; that, as he is made partaker of the death 
 of Christ, he 7nay also be partaker of his resur- 
 rection, and so finally may become an inheritor 
 of God's everlasting kingdom." These are her 
 solemn and her constant prayers ; and in her 
 prayers, of course, she prays only for things 
 which may not take place, for contingent and 
 uncertain blessings. Holiness of life, therefore, 
 she does not regard as the inevitable consequence 
 of baptismal regeneration. Again, whilst in her 
 Catechism, she teaches the child himself to thank 
 his heavenly Father, that " he hath called him 
 to this state of salvation ;" she teaches him also to 
 " pray unto God, that he would give him his 
 grace to continue in the same unto his life's end." 
 These are her instructions ; and she therefore in- 
 structs us to believe, that the grace of salvation 
 and perseverance, which is communicated in bap- 
 tism, is not absolutely communicated as an in- 
 defectible grace, but may be lost by the folly or 
 the wickedness of the child. These plain and 
 positive expressions of her formularies, and the 
 harsh and unnatural interpretations, which those 
 who have adopted a different hypothesis, have 
 been compelled to assign to many of her most 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 73 
 
 explicit declarations, are a powerful and persua- 
 sive argument to convince us of the correspon- 
 dence of our own opinions, Avith those of her to 
 whose authority we bow. Or were there any 
 difficulty remaining in the question, it would be 
 completely removed by the plain and candid 
 statement of the doctrine of the Liturgy, which 
 has been delivered by a learned Professor in a 
 sister University *. 
 
 To this statement^" however, of the doctrine of 
 regeneration, there is one objection of consider- 
 able importance, which it would be improper to 
 leave altogether without answer or remark. Tlie 
 communication of the Spirit to every infant in 
 the period of baptism, is considered by many as 
 positively contradicted by experience and facts. 
 
 Few it is said of those who are baptised in 
 infancy fulfil the duties of their calling, or give 
 any visible signs of the seed of grace which has 
 been sown in their hearts in the administration 
 of the sacrament; and it is supposed to be an 
 inconceivable, if not an impossible circumstance, 
 that the Spirit should prove inefficacious to the 
 production of real holiness of life in such a 
 
 * Dr. Lawrence, Regius Professor of Hebrew in the 
 University of Oxford, in his " Doctrine of the Church of 
 England upon the Efficacy of Baptism;" but I refer more 
 especially to the eighth Chapter. 
 
74 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 majority of instances. The statement is, per- 
 haps, exaggerated. But at any rate if we can 
 produce a cause which may account for this ef- 
 fect, in that degree in which it does exist, the 
 wonder and the difficulty must cease at once. 
 
 Now much of the evil may be undoubtedly 
 referred to a wilful falling away from grace, 
 and a wilful neglect in the improvement of the 
 spiritual gift which has been received. Like the 
 Jews they are " stiff-necked and uncircumcised 
 in heart ;" not because they have not received, 
 but because they have " always resisted^ the Koly 
 Ghost." (Acts vii. 5 \ .) But in addition to this, 
 "we may observe, that when our Saviour com- 
 manded his disciples to " go forth and baptise 
 all nations," he commanded them, at the same 
 time, to follow up the rite, by teaching the bap- 
 tised *' to observe all thinj^s whatsoever he had 
 commanded them." 
 
 This therefore is one of the essential parts of 
 the commission of Jesus to his ministers, and if 
 we can point out any generally existing failure in 
 its fulfilment, we shall have sufficiently accounted 
 for the general deficiency of the fruits of the 
 Spirit, in the sentiments and conduct of the 
 children of Christian parents, who have received 
 the power of the Spirit in their baptism. If 
 those who are baptised be not brought up in the 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneratmi. 75 
 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord, ue can no 
 longer be astonished that they do not gTow zip in 
 the nuiture and admonition of the Lord. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the duty of instruct- 
 ing, as well as the office of baptising those who 
 are admitted into the visible Church, is lodged, 
 by the terms of our Saviour's parting commis- 
 sion to the Apostles, in the hands of the minis- 
 try. But it would be impossible for the minis- 
 ters of the Gospel, however numerous or diligent, 
 individually, to superintend the religious educa- 
 tion of every Clu'istian child. The only thing 
 which it is in the power of the Church to do, 
 she has done. She has established a system of 
 general instruction. She has enjoined her minis- 
 ters to be fn quent and regular in the labour of 
 catechising. She will not depend upon the mere 
 promises and declarations of the parents alone, 
 for the godly education of tlie child to be bap- 
 tised, but recfuires in every case tiiat they should 
 bring three persons, at the least, of holy and 
 Christian characters, as security for their tidelity 
 in the discharge of their parental duties — per- 
 sons who, in case of death, incapacity, or neg- 
 lect, may supply to the child the place of its 
 natural guardians in the care of the soul, and be 
 unto it as a nursing father, or a nursing mother, 
 in all spiritual things. 
 
 This is the solemn duty undertaken by every 
 
76 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 
 one who appears as a sponsor at the baptismal 
 font. But how are these duties fulfilled ? The 
 carelessness and indifference with which parents 
 often procure the rite to be administered to their 
 offspring. The little importance which they at- 
 tach to the choice of proper sponsors, chooh^ing 
 them rather from compliment and convenience, 
 than from any real interest which they think they 
 will take in the welfare of the child. The ia;no- 
 ranee which these godfathers and godmothers 
 ahnost universally display of the nature of the 
 engagements into which they are entering : and 
 the indolence and neglect which we have so 
 often to lament in those who are better ac- 
 quainted with their duties, form altogether a scene 
 as disgraceful as it is pernicious to the cause of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 It is here, then, that we are to look for the 
 root of the evil ; and not by trenching upon the 
 general efficacy of a Christian sacrament, or 
 denying the Spirit to be its accompaniment. 
 
 Fearful lest she should present to her Lord an 
 unworthy offering*, or seem negligent in the per- 
 
 * The promise of the sureties that the children baptized 
 shall perform the conditions required, when they are ahle to 
 do so, is the reason only why children are, not why they maif 
 he baptised ; the reason only why it is expedient^ not why it is 
 taivfulj the reason only why the Church permits herself. 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 77 
 
 formance of her holy function, the Church makes 
 every eifort in her power to give to her offspring 
 a moral and religious education. But those to 
 whom she delegates her authority are careless 
 of the work. The task " of teaching them to 
 observe whatsoever Jesus has commanded them," 
 is not fulfilled, and therefore his commandments 
 are not observed. For if a child were trained 
 in the way he should go, assuredly the blessing 
 of God would attend the training, and he would 
 seldom, when grown old in understanding, depart 
 therefrom. But though the tree be good, yet if it be 
 left neglected and unpruned, its vigour will shoot 
 only into a barren luxuriance. The soil may be 
 good, and good seed be sown upon the land, but 
 if the husbandman watch not, the enemy will 
 .•sow tares. The cause of the evil, therefore, 
 arises not from the defective operation of the 
 Spirit in the sacrament, but from the defective co- 
 operation of man therewith ; from a want of 
 co-operation either in those who are to teach, 
 or in those who are to be taught. Where 
 the whole of the baptismal commission is 
 not carefully performed and duly improved, it 
 
 not wliy slie is permifted by the Gospel to do so. Were . 
 the stipulation of the sponsors, the foundation of the 
 legality of infant baptism, sponsors would also have been 
 required in the private baptism of infants. 
 
78 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 would be in vain to look for the fulness of the 
 benefit. 
 
 The doctrine then which we maintain is simply 
 this. That elemental and spiritual regeneration, 
 in the sense we have assigned to that term, viz. as 
 comprehending the remission of sin and the 
 power of the Spirit, to fulfil their Christian du- 
 ties, are to be considered as forming universally^ 
 in the case of infants, the constituent parts of 
 baptismal regeneration. And this doetrine we 
 maintain, confident that no evil and immoral 
 consequences can justly be drawn from its ad- 
 mission as a truth, and tearless of any false and 
 delusive hopes which the wickedness of man 
 might be inclined to build upon so godly a foun- 
 dation. It is filled with no danger to the souls 
 of men, it administers no opiate unto the carnal 
 mind. It is naturally and fairly liable to no 
 greater degree of corruption than any of the 
 Other mercies of God. For what if we be 
 taught that we who once were darkness, are now, 
 through the power of our baptism, made light 
 in the Lord ? Why, verily, if we will conde- 
 scend to be taught by the wisdom of an Apostle, 
 and buiid the conclusion of St. Paul upon the 
 premises of St. Paul, we must acknowledge that 
 this is but a stronger reason why we should learn 
 and labour to " walk as the children of light,'* 
 lest we should fall back into our former state of 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 75 
 
 irremediable darkness, where the administration 
 of no redeeming ordinance will again avail to re- 
 animate the spark of hope. 
 
 What if we be taught, that in onr baptism, we 
 did all ** drink into one Spirit," and were all 
 made partakers of the grace of holiness ? Shall 
 we then do despite unto this Spirit received, and 
 continue wilfully in sin that grace may abound ? 
 I speak again the language of the Apostle, and 
 say, ''God forbid." Surely if we have received 
 in baptism, sanctification, through the Spirit, 
 unto obedience, it is but a stronger reason why 
 we should employ the Spirit in the works of 
 obedience, and use the means for the attainment 
 of the end. If the Spirit be given us in bap- 
 tism, " to profit withal," it is but the greater en- 
 couragement to give all heed and diligence that 
 WQ.may profit withal; and a greater cause of 
 fear lest through negligence we should fail in 
 the attainment of salvation. For still I think 
 that I speak the language of the Apostle, when I 
 say, that the Spirit only " helpeth our infirmi- 
 ties," that the Spirit may be grieved, and re- 
 sisted, and quenched. And though it be true 
 that even where a Paul does plant, and an Apol- 
 los does water, it is still God only who does give 
 the increase ; yet we know and believe it to be 
 equally true, that though a Paul should have 
 planted in us the seed of holiness in baptism. 
 
80 Kafurc of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 God will not give the increase thereto, if the 
 indolence of man refuse or nedect to water the 
 seed. However highly then we may exalt the 
 spiritual privileges of baptism, what possible evil 
 can be done to religion or morality, what fair 
 excuse afforded to the careless and profane, so 
 long as we conclude with the Gospel, that " nei- 
 ther circumcision availeth any thing to everlast- 
 ing happiness, nor uncircumcision without the 
 new creature," without a real sanctitication of 
 heart and life. 
 
 What dan2;er can arise so Ions as we conclude, 
 that neither the grace of baptism availeth any 
 thing to salvation, nor tlie want of that grace, 
 but " faith working by love ;" but faith made 
 energetic and effectual by the works of holiness, 
 and crowned with the qualifications of virtue, 
 knowledge, meekness, gentleness, patience, bro- 
 therly kindness, and all goodness, and universal 
 charity. Why, what evil have we done in de- 
 claring, baptism to be " the power of God unto 
 salvation," so long as we be not negligent to put 
 men in remembrance of their duty, and to tell 
 them that the cause without the effect is dead ; 
 that the gift without the fruits of the Spirit is 
 vain ; to warn them lest they should forget that 
 they have been " purged from their sins ;" and 
 to exhort them, as a consequence, '' to give all 
 diligence to make their calling and election sure :" 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 81 
 
 because, though we believe, that by reason of the 
 baptism of our infancy, the Lord doth work in 
 us both to will and to do, yet after all we confess, 
 that it is ourselves alone upon whom depends 
 the working out of our own salvation. Being 
 baptised, we were " born again into a lively 
 hope of an inheritance, reserved in heaven for 
 them who are kept by the power of God." 
 Being baptised, we were endued with " power 
 to become the sons of God." 
 
 But then it is a power which may be neglected, 
 or abused, or lost. But then if careless and 
 perverse, and without perseverance, we shall 720t 
 be kept by the power of God unto salvation, and 
 so all the liveliness of our hope will become dead, 
 and fade away before the presence of our ini- 
 quities. This is the regeneration which we 
 preach ; and though it be to the Jews a stum- 
 bling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness, we 
 cannot cease from the preaching of this regenera- 
 tion ; because we believe it to be justified by the 
 analogy of the first and the second birth, to be 
 founded upon the oracles of God, to be in strict 
 conformity with the Liturgy of the Church, and 
 in no way subversive of the interests of religion 
 or virtue. 
 
 G 
 
DISCOURSE V. 
 
 tHlC NATURE OP BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 JOHN Hi. 3. 5. 
 
 Except a man be born again, he cannot see tht 
 
 kingdom of God. 
 E.vcept a man be born of water and of the 
 
 Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 
 God, 
 
 Deducing our opinions from a careful ex- 
 amination into the analogy which our Saviour has 
 declared to subsist between the nature of the first 
 and the second birth, and fortified in our conclu- 
 sions by an appeal to the standard of our faith, 
 as members and ministers of the Established 
 Church, we have been induced to assign to the 
 spiritual regeneration of baptism, a definition, 
 which makes it co-extensive with the blessings of 
 that sacrament, and comprehends the reception 
 of the remission of sins, and the power of the 
 Spirit to perform our Christian duties. If ex- 
 
 g2 
 
84 Nature of Bapt'wnal Regeneration. 
 
 amined upon the ground of the formularies of 
 our Church, and the analof^y of our Saviour 
 alone, this sense of the term would seem to be 
 unexceptionably correct, because it explains the 
 second and spiritual birth, in a sense in which 
 every birth must be ultimately explained, the 
 passage of a being, from a state of darkness, into 
 light*, and, what the learned Hooker has justly 
 described, as " the first apparent commence- 
 ment of life." 
 
 But is that the sense in which regeneration is 
 taken in the Scriptures of truth ? Is that the 
 sense in which, from the scanty information they 
 have left us upon the point, it would seem to 
 have been contemplated by the Apostles them- 
 selves ? This is an enquiry of the most vital 
 importance, because though as ministers we are 
 
 • The error of interpretmg regeneration, exclusively, in 
 the sense of the commencement of a real change of life, 
 seems to have arisen from interpreting " darkness" and 
 " light," exclusively in the sense of wickedness and righ- 
 teousness, and consequently a passage from a state of dark- 
 ness into light, as an actual transition from a sinful to a 
 virtuous course of life. But Schleusner well observes that 
 ry-'vTia, implies also ** omnis status ac conditio hominum 
 ante conversionem adreligionem Christianam ;''— fw? •' ora- 
 rris status et conditio hominum qui vera fide ampleni sun^ 
 religlonem Christianam :" and consequently a passage from 
 darkness into light signifies a passage from one of those 
 states to the other. 
 
Nafm^e of Baptismal Regeneration. 85 
 
 bound to conform to the doctrines of the Church 
 to which we belong, yet as Christians we are 
 bound to withdraw from the communion of that 
 Church, whenever wc are thoroughly and clearly 
 convinced that the fundamental doctrines of her 
 creed are either subversive of morality, or re- 
 pugnant to the authoritative declarations of the 
 Gospel. Here then we must again resume our 
 labours, and endeavour to establish the confor- 
 mity of our opinions with the language of revela- 
 tion. 
 
 Except in the conversation of our Saviour with 
 Nicodemus, the precise expression of being born, 
 or begotten again, occurs but twice throughout 
 the whole of the New Testament ; and in one of 
 those passages alone can we iind any materials 
 for determining its signification. St. Peter opens 
 his first Epistle, to the strangers scattered through- 
 out Asia, by addressing them in the second verse, 
 as " elect, according to the foreknowledge of 
 God, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto 
 obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus 
 Christ ;" that is, as persons, who through the 
 sacrifice of Christ, had obtained the forgiveness 
 of sins, and the means of holiness, through the 
 gift of the Holv Ghost. 
 
 He then, immediately, proceeds in the follow- 
 ing verse to return thanks to the Almighty, for 
 the grace and privileges which were thus enjofed 
 
36 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 
 by them and by himself, and says, " Blessed be 
 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who, of his abundant mercies, hath begotten, or 
 made us to be born again, unto a lively hope." 
 Here it is evident, that the expression of being 
 " born again, unto a lively hope," is equivalent to 
 that sanctification through the Spirit, and that 
 justification through the atonement of Jesus, of 
 which he had in the former verse pronounced 
 that they had been made partakers in their elec- 
 tion. 
 
 The reception of pardon and the communica- 
 tion and confirmation of grace, constituted, 
 therefore, as it were, the very substance of re- 
 generation in the mind of this Apostle; a pardon, 
 however, which would be continued only upon 
 the condition of future obedience, grace only in 
 such a measure as anight lead, if duly cherished 
 and improved, to the acquisition of real and per- 
 sonal holiness. For had St. Peter's thoughts 
 been otherwise, — had he considered the being 
 *' born again," as an entire change of mind, and 
 of all the faculties, as a radical change of heart 
 and the necessary commencement of actual sanc- 
 tification, he would have moulded his expressions 
 in a very different form, and instead of tempe- 
 rately speaking of a lively hope, would have 
 boldly asserted that we were absolutely begotten 
 again unto an inalienable assurance of the saU 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration* 87 
 
 ration of our souls. St. Peter, therefore, would 
 appear, like us, ta have understood our Saviour's 
 expression of " being born again," in the sense of 
 being pardoned and assisted by the influence of 
 the Spirit, and as these blessings are universally 
 conferred upon every worthy recipient of baptismi 
 it would appear also to be the doctrine of St. 
 Peter, that every worthy recipient is so regene- 
 rated at the time, and through the medium of his 
 baptism, that baptism which he has told us in 
 another place, " doth save us," if we bring with 
 Ds the answer of a good conscience before God. 
 
 But we may be told, in opposition to this inter- 
 pretation, that whatever may be the conclusion to 
 which we are led by the language of St. Peter, the 
 language of the other Apostles is altogether dif- 
 ferent. We may be reminded, perhaps, that 
 though the phrase of being born again is very 
 seldom used, the corresponding phrase of being 
 born of God, is frequently to be found in the pages 
 of St. John ; that he is to be considered as the 
 best interpreter of that saying of our Saviour, 
 which he alone amongst the Apostles has thought 
 fit to record, and that he has spoken of the change 
 in a manner, which is utterly iireconcileable with 
 the opinions we have formed. 
 
 Three distinct species of texts have been pro- 
 duced for this purpose. By the first, it is at- 
 tempted to be shown, that regeneration may, in 
 
88 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 
 the case of adults, precede ; by the second, that 
 in the case of infants, it may not accompany the 
 ^administration of baptism ; and by the third, that 
 this sacrament cannot, properly speaking, be con- 
 sidered as the means of procuring for us tlie re- 
 ception of that blessing. 
 
 Let us proceed, therefore, to the examinatioa 
 of these texts. 
 
 1. " Every one that doeth righteousiiessy is 
 born of God." *' Every one that loveth, is born 
 of God." " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is 
 the Christ, is born of God." From these plain 
 9,nd explicit passages in the first General Epistle of 
 St. John, it has been concluded, with a consi- 
 derable degree of plausibility, that e'cery indivi« 
 dual in every nation under heaven, who is endued 
 with the qualifications of faith, and holiness, and 
 charity, is already born again of the Spirit. No 
 matter whether he have received, or even heard 
 of the sacrament of baptism, if he be a believer, 
 and a lover, and a doer of righteousness, it is 
 maintained, that from that circumstance alone, we 
 are authorised by St. John, in pronouncing him to 
 be a partaker of spiritual regeneration. But it is 
 evident, that in the deduction of this inference, 
 one necessary and indispensable rule of interpre- 
 tation has been entirely overlooked. The rule to 
 which I allude is this : that every universal pro- 
 position is to be limited in its application by the 
 
\ Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, 89 
 
 circumstances of the individuals to whom it is 
 addressed, and the object the writer has in view. 
 Now those alone, to whom the Epistle of St. John 
 was written, were those who did " believe on the 
 name of the Son of God," and therefore we may 
 certainly conclude, had been baptised into his 
 name. Christians they were both by inward faith 
 and outward profession. " Whosoever believeth, 
 and loveth, and doeth righteousness, is born of 
 God," was addressed to the members of the Chris- 
 tian Church alone ; and no one is a member of 
 that Church, who has not been baptised. These 
 texts, therefore, would appear indeed to prove, 
 that every baptised Christian, who believeth, and 
 Joveth, and doeth righteousness, is born of God ; 
 )3ut not having been spoken to those who are 
 without the pale of the Church, cannot fairly be 
 considered as applicable to them. They are de- 
 scriptions indeed of what those are and do, who 
 remain in the state in which they were placed by 
 baptism ; but it is a perversion of their original 
 intention to apply them to the ^^/^-baptised. De- 
 lineations they are of those, who are bringing 
 forth the fruits of regeneration ; criteria, by 
 xvhich the baptised alone are to judge of their 
 state ; tests, whereby not every human, but only 
 every Christianj being may judge whether he is 
 born of God, so as to abide and continue in the 
 light into wjiiph he was introduced by baptism. 
 
*^0 Katiire of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 
 For, that the phrase of " being born of God," in 
 St. John, is to be interpreted only of a con- 
 tinuajice in actual holiness, we shall now pro- 
 ceed to shew. 
 
 2. *' Whatsoever is born of God, overcometh 
 the world." " Whosoever is born of God, sin- 
 neth not." From these, and from similar texts in 
 the same Epistle, it has been argued as before, 
 and with equal plausibility, that as multitudes 
 who have been baptised in infancy, do neither 
 overcome the world, nor continue free from the 
 influence of habitual sin, they are not " born of 
 God " W^e admit the propriety of the conclusion, 
 but then we limit its application according to the 
 sense of the Apostle ; and we observe, that the 
 whole force of the argument, as it is an argument 
 against the universal regeneration of infants in 
 baptism, depends upon the meaning assigned to 
 the expression of " being born of God." The 
 argument does not prove, that those persons, who 
 have been baptised in their infancy, have not 
 been " born again" in the sense which we have 
 ascribed to that phrase- in the mouth of our Sa- 
 viour and St. Peter, unless it can be shewn, that 
 to be *' born of God,'' in St. John, is an exactly 
 corresponding phrase. But what says St. John ? 
 " In this the children of God are manifest. 
 Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not." To be 
 born of God, and to be the children of God, are 
 
J 
 
 Jf^ 
 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 9\ 
 
 consequently the same. Tiiis is universally al- 
 lowed. But what says St. Paul? " As many as 
 are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children 
 of God." (Rom. viii. 14.) To be children of 
 God, and born of God, and led by or continuing 
 in the Spirit of God, are therefore convertible 
 terms. The language of the Apostle will there- 
 fore mean, that if vve be led by the Spirit, and 
 bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, we shall not 
 habitually commit sm; a proposition which no 
 one will deny. And hence we conclude, that the 
 texts now under consideration do not refer to 
 the communication of a principle of holiness, but 
 to our continuance in a state of holiness, by the 
 due cultivation of the implanted seed of grace. 
 
 But it may be, and it has been objected, that 
 the word of the Apostle will scarce admit of this 
 interpretation, and that yiyiwnjon (chap. iii. 9.) 
 " hath been born of God," Avould seem to refer 
 to times past, rather than to times present ; to 
 what was, rather than to what is, and so to deny, 
 that any one who commits sin has ever been born 
 of God. But whatever grammatical ambiguity 
 there may be in the tense which the Apostle has 
 used, surely he may be permitted to remove the 
 ambiguity for himself, and explain his own mean- 
 ing in his own unexceptionable language. If 
 then we turn back to the 6th verse of the iiid 
 chapter, we shall find, that what he in the 4th verse 
 
9^ Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 predicates of those who are born of God, he had 
 there Jiist of all predicated of those who abide 
 in God. " Whosoever abideth in God, sinneth 
 not," says he there. " Whosoever is born of 
 God, sinneth not," says he here. To be, or to 
 have been born of God, is consequently in St. 
 John, synonymous with abiding in God and god- 
 liness ; and his object in stating these propositions 
 was to guard his flock against' those deceitful 
 men, who taught them, that even without the 
 practice of good works, the anointing which St. 
 John allows they had received (ii. ^7.), would 
 be effectual to salvation. No, says he, " If we 
 say, that we have fellowship with God, and con- 
 tinue to walk in darkness, we fare liars." For, 
 whosoever abideth in God, or is born of God, 
 sinneth not ; for, if he abideth in him, his seed 
 remaineth in him, and he cannot habitually sin, 
 because he is thus born of God. " To be " born 
 of God" with St. John, and to be " born againj^ 
 with our Saviour and St. Peter, are not, therefore, 
 terms of exactly the same import, and, conse- 
 quently, the definition we have given of baptis' 
 mal regeneration is not at all affected by argu- 
 ments which may be founded upon a presump- 
 tion 6f their identity. 
 
 3. The third ground upon which baptism is 
 denied to be the means of regeneration, is be- 
 cause it is ascribed in Scripture to other causes. 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 93 
 
 " Of his own will begat he us with the word of 
 truth," says St. James (i. 18.). "Being born 
 again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, 
 by the word of God," says St. Peter (i. 23.)- The 
 conclusion, which has been built upon these pas- 
 sages, declares, that by mentioning the " word of 
 God," the sacred writers expressly exclude the 
 water of baptism from being, in any sense, a means 
 of the regeneration of man. But a very slight 
 consideration may serve to shew the weakness of 
 the argument. Indeed, if admitted, as correct, it 
 would directly contradict the words of St. Peter, 
 and contrary to the positive declaration of that 
 Apostle, that we are " begotten again unto a 
 lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus," and 
 contrary to the positive of St. Paul, that we 
 *' are all the children of God by faith in Jesus 
 Christ" (Gal. iii. 26.), would absolutely exclude 
 both the resurrection and the faith of Jesus from 
 any participation in the work of regeneration. 
 The real fact, however is, that the Scriptures at- 
 tribute the sanctification and salvation of indivi- 
 duals, and the Church, to the concurring opera- 
 tion of several causes ; each of which is possessed 
 of a certain, though perhaps very different, weight 
 and share in the completion of the general re- 
 sult. " "We are saved by faith," says St. Paul 
 (Ephes. ii. 8.) ; but that this specification of faith 
 does not prevent the efficacy and necessity of 
 
 9 
 
94 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 baptism in the production of the same end, U 
 evident from St. Peter, who has told us, that 
 " baptism also does save us" (iii. 21.), as well as 
 faith. So long, therefore, as we find the waters 
 of baptism to be styled by an Apostle " the laver 
 of regeneration," and so long as we shall read in 
 the pages of the New Testament (Ephes. v. 26\), 
 that Jesus " has sanctified and cleansed," or, in 
 one word, regenerated " his Church with the 
 washing of water," as well as the word, we need 
 not scruple to designate baptism as one of the 
 means of regeneration, or causes, without the pre- 
 sence of which it cannot, in general, take place ; 
 notwithstanding those passages, in which it would 
 seem to be ascribed to the power of the word 
 alone. Both are, in some sense, the means, and 
 both have their appropriate share in the produc- 
 tion of the effect. The word makes known to us 
 the terms of the covenant ; and baptism, by majc- 
 ing us members of the covenant, places us under 
 the influence of those terms. 
 
 The observations to which the enquiry has thus 
 given rise, will, I trust, sufficiently establish the 
 consistency of our opinions with the language of 
 Holy Writ, and shew, that there is no impropriety 
 in considering baptismal regeneration to be the 
 communication (to every infant and worthy re- 
 cipient) of the remission of sin, and the power 
 cf the Spirit to perform their Christian duties ; 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. S5 
 
 the communication of a principle, by the diligent 
 use of which they may attain unto holiness, but 
 not necessarily the commencement of a state of 
 actual and progressive sanctification *. But this 
 is not the only advantage which we may derive 
 from the investigation. It may serve also, in a 
 great measure, to point out to us the origin of 
 that apparent difference of opinion, which may 
 be found even in the pages of our older Divines, 
 and which, perhaps, may be considered as one of 
 the principal causes of that unhappy dissension, 
 which prevails at present among the Ministers of 
 the Church. 
 
 Speaking without any direct or intentional re- 
 ference to the ordinance of baptism, employed 
 only in framing a just description of the " new 
 creature" of St. Paul, whose " faith worketh by 
 love," and who consequently " keeps the com- 
 mandments of God ;" and considering regenera- 
 tion as the continuance of a state, in which there 
 is not only the presence, but the " prevalence of 
 grace." Archbishop Tillotson, in his Sermons on 
 
 * I cannot help bearing testimony to the soundness of 
 the views upon regeneration, contained in two short pamph- 
 lets addressed by Dean Bethell to Mr. Faber, and to which 
 I feel much indebted. It is much to be lamented, that the 
 Dean of Chichester has not favoured the world wifh his sen- 
 timents upon the subject in a more extended and systematie 
 f«rio. 
 
96 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 
 the subject, (Senn. 106 to 110) has defined it to 
 be *' the real renovation of our hearts and lives^** 
 and the compleat and progressive " change from 
 a state of disobedience and sin, to a state of obe- 
 dience and holiness." He has identified it with 
 actual, and entire, and continued sanctification of 
 heart and life, and has therefore, very naturally, 
 delivered his sentiments in terms which necessarily 
 preclude the possibility of its being considered, 
 in that sense of the term, to be the universal 
 concomitant of infant baptism. The eloquent 
 wisdom of Jeremy Taylor, on the contrary, with 
 a firmer grasp of his subject, and perhaps a 
 higher reach of understanding, speaking expressly 
 of the sacrament of baptism*, speaks of it with 
 his usual force and felicity of expression, as doing 
 the infancy of the work of grace, as bringing us 
 but to the birth of the new life, and, though com- 
 municating the Spirit of God, yet in such a 
 manner alone, that it 7nai/ be ineffective or in- 
 active. He therefore considers e'very child to be 
 regefierated in baptism ; and of the regenerated 
 person, he says, " now that he is born anew, 
 he hath in him that principle of holiness, which, 
 if it be cherished (and upon that single limitation 
 the solution of the whole controversy depends,) 
 will grow up to life, to life eternal'}"." But it 
 
 * Taylor's Life of Christ, Disc. vi. Part 2. Sect. 8. and 16. 
 + Ibid. Disc. vl. Part 1. Sect. 23. 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 9^ 
 
 would be endless to reconcile the differences which 
 may be found in almost every writer. I shall, 
 therefore, confine my attention to the works of 
 ©ne single individual. Every one, who has stu- 
 died the controversy of regeneration, must have 
 remarked, that the name of the pious and learned 
 Bishop Beveridize has been claimed with equal 
 confidence by both parties in the contest. Two 
 Sermons exist from the pen of this Divine ; in 
 the first of which (Serm. I9), it is his prote?sed 
 intention, to describe the marks of the " new cre- 
 ture," or of the m;\n, whose " faith worketh by 
 love ;" in the other (Serm. 3.5 *), to shew in what 
 
 ♦ I would strongly recommend the perusal of this Sermon 
 to those, who are studying the present controversy upon re» 
 generation. It contains expressions certainly unguarded^ 
 and apparently objectionable. It asserts, that " there is no 
 Other way of being born again of water, as well as of tht 
 Spirit, but only in the sacrament of baptism." It declares, 
 that " the Spirit of Christ certainly accompanies the sacra- 
 ment of baptism, when duly administered according to his 
 institution,' without taking any notice of the qualifications 
 of the recipient. But these propositions, when corrected, 
 as in fairness they ought to be, by his subsequent limita- 
 tions, are perfectly plain and unexceptionable. And had tha 
 similar propositions of Dr. Mant been accepted with those 
 allowances, which common sense and common candour 
 might have perceived to be necessary ; the language of that 
 Divine might have been spoken of as not sufficiently de- 
 finite or precise; but his doctrines would never have h^&B. 
 •a severely censured) as immoral and unscripturai. 
 
 H 
 
^^ Mature of Baptismal Regeneration^ 
 
 manner, " admission into the Church of Chrib^ 
 -by baptism, is necessary to salvation. In the for-. 
 AxiQXy it is his object to pi'eveiit in nominal Chris- 
 ^iaosan iinfouoded reliance ypon the mere recep- 
 iion of baptism ; in the latter, to explain and esta- 
 blish the use and the dignity oi that sacrament As 
 nii<^ht reasonably be expected from the different 
 nature of the subjects of which they treat, there 
 .are passages, with regard to regeneration, which 
 ;would appear to be contradictory and inconsistent 
 ^with each other. In the first of these Sermons 
 he |M)sitively asserts, that, " if born again of 
 God, men must needs become new creatures, and 
 lead new liveSy^ because he had before explained 
 this regeneration in a sense synonimous with real, 
 and actual, and continued holiness, and sup- 
 posed them " to be ^o renewed and born again of 
 -Ood's Holy Spirit, that they were become new 
 rJiien, their minds purified, their consciences 
 purged from bad works, and their whole soul in- 
 flamed with love to God." In one word, he had 
 supposed them " to be born of God," in the sense 
 of St. John, and tlierefore " abiding in God." 
 But when, in the other discourse, he comes to the 
 consideration of the regeneration of baptis?n, he 
 describes // exactly in the manner, and almost in 
 the terms, in which we have interpreted the 
 j|.' being born again,''' of our Saviour; and St. 
 Peter, ** He that is born of tiie Spirit of God/ 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 99 
 
 gays he, " thereby becomes a spiritual creature, 
 and so is capable of those spiritual things, of 
 which the kingdom of God consisteth, even of 
 righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost. But that we may be thus born of the 
 Spirit, we must be born also of water, which our 
 Saviour puts in the first place. Not as if there 
 was any such virtue in water, whereby it could 
 regenerate us ; but because this is the rite or orr 
 dinance appointed by Christ, wherein to rege* 
 nerate us by this Holy Spirit." Therefore he con- 
 cludes, that ' when we were baptised, we were 
 born of the water aiid the Spirit, .vo as to havQ 
 the seed of grace sown in our hearts, sufficient to 
 enable us to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, to 
 overcome temptations, to believe arignt in God 
 our Saviour, and obey and serve him faithfully all 
 the days of our life. And, if we afterwards live in 
 good conscience towards God, we shall certainly 
 be saved through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
 But, if we neglect to perform what wc then pro* 
 mised, we shall certainly perish." " When we 
 were baptised," says he, " we were born of the 
 Spirit, and so have it always ready to assist us." 
 
 I have quoted these passages from this vene- 
 rable author, to shew, that regeneration may be 
 taken in senses distinct from each other, and to 
 teach men to be very cautious in the use of such 
 passages, and carefully to examine in what sense 
 
 H2 
 
1 00 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 the term is used; whether for the communicatioa 
 of the principle of obedience *, or to the conti- 
 nuance of a state of real sanctification ; before 
 they presume to determine, that regeneration is, 
 by any writer, either asserted or denied to be thf 
 universal concomitant of infant baptism. 
 
 Why then should not men cease for ever from 
 this almost war of words, and let there be peace 
 at least within the walls of our Jerusalem. Hef 
 bulwarks indeed are mighty, but her enemies also 
 are many ; and if she be divided against herself 
 she cannot stand. If her watchmen wake only 
 to contend amongst themselves, and despise th« 
 presence and the number of her adversaries without, 
 no regard for her strength, no reverence for her 
 beauty will restrain their efforts, or preserve her 
 from a fall. If she desert herself, she will be for- 
 saken of her God. Why then should not the city 
 of our Jerusalem be as a city that is at unity in 
 itself? The principles of harmony would appear to 
 be obvious and easy to all, who have no private 
 views to answer, and no private systems to defend, 
 and may be drawn, as I conceive, with readiness 
 «ven from that imperfect statement of the subject 
 which these discourses>aftbrd. 
 
 * It would have been tedious to have repeated, upOB, 
 •very occasion, the -^<:hole description we have given of re- 
 generation. I have therefore, in general, only mention*^ 
 ^e point of differoKe. 
 
Nature of Baptisynal Regeneration. It)"! 
 
 For the conclusion, to which we have been ul- 
 timately conducted in the progress, and as the re- 
 sult of our enquiries, may be comprehended in a 
 very few and simple words. It is this, that rege- 
 neration both may be, and has been, described by 
 Divines under two different forms ; first, as that 
 reception of grace in baptism, which gives us the 
 power of becoming the sons of God ; and se- 
 condly, as that " growth in grace," that use of the 
 means so received, by which we actually become 
 the sons of God, in real, and continued, and pro- 
 gressive holiness of heart and life. In the former, 
 it is considered as an act ; an act of God, infusing 
 his Spirit into the soul, in an insensible manner, 
 and not irresistible degree, for the purpose of en- 
 duing it with the capability of attaining unto piety 
 and virtue. In the latter, it is regarded as a state, 
 as that abiding state of righteousness and sanctili- 
 cation, unto which we have actually* attained by 
 the diligent improvement of the powers and capa- 
 bilities we have received. In the former of these 
 senses, it is adopted in the doctrinal formu- 
 laries of our Church, in her authorized Cate- 
 chism, and in her Baptismal Services ; and in 
 this sense it ought universally to be accepted, 
 when we speak with a reference to the effects of 
 baptism, and the nature of baptismal regeneratioru 
 In the latter of these senses it might seein, pei- 
 haps, to have been interpreted in one of her prac- 
 tical treatises. For, in the first part of the H©- 
 
1 02 Nature of Baptismal Regenet^ation. 
 
 mily for Whitsunday, where she is speaking of 
 "the power of the Holy Ghost to regenerate 
 men," she explains her meaning, like Bishop Be- 
 vericjoe, by sayiris:, that to regenerate men is, 
 ** as it were, to bring them forth anew, so that 
 they shall be notiiing like the men they were be- 
 fore." And alter this, she immediately proceeds 
 to lay down the evidences by which a Christian 
 may know, " whether the Holy Ghost dzvelleth 
 within him." She does not consider the want of 
 the fruits of the Spirit, as any certain proof of our 
 never having received the Spirit, but, with a di- 
 rect reference to those tests and criteria, which St. 
 John, in his first Episile, has produced as the 
 proofs of our being " born of God," so as to 
 " abide in God," she proceeds to give us "a glasSj 
 wherein we may discern whether we have (not 
 have had) the Holy Ghost within us; whether 
 \ve are (not have been) endued with the Holy 
 
 Ghost." 
 
 Yet, when we consider, that this latter produc- 
 tion was not drawn up by the same individual, or 
 with the same views which dictated the language 
 of the Office for the Baptism of Infants ; and that 
 it was probably not the intention of the Author of 
 the Homily for Whitsunday to speak in the terms 
 of a strict theological definition, but only to give 
 godly and profitable instruction to the people, 
 and that the word " regenerate," seems only to 
 have been incidentally used by him, as synoni- 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, t OS 
 
 inous with " sanctify." When we consider fuN 
 ther, that the Liturgy has so strictly and inalien- 
 ably attached regeneration to baptism, as its 
 effect upon infants, that it would be impossible^ 
 witl)out a complete revision and alteration of the 
 whole, to detach the term from that sacrament ; 
 .and when we add to these considerations, the con- 
 fusion, which must always and necessarily spring 
 from an application of the same word indifferently 
 to two distinct, though connected subjects, I 
 leave it to the good sense and candour of every 
 Minister to decide what is the course most proper 
 to be pursued. I ask, whether it would not be 
 more wise to confine the use of the words rege- 
 nerate and regeneration^ exclusively, to the be- 
 nefits resulting from baptism, to every worthy 
 recipient ; and, when we wish to exhort our con- 
 gregations to examine their state with regard to 
 religion *, to preach, like Beveridge and Tillotson, 
 only ifoin those texts which speak of the " new 
 creature," whose " faith working by lore," pro- 
 duces " an obedience to the commandments of 
 God," and to make use of the fruits of the. Spirit, 
 only after the manner and in the language of St. 
 John, as tests, not of those who have been rege- 
 nerated by the sowing in their hearts of the seed 
 
 * See this subject very beautifully touched upon in the 
 impressive primary Charge of the Bishop of Gloucesfer 
 ■ •p. 19 to 24. i. > 
 
104 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 
 of grace, but of those " whose seed reinainetH 
 in them," not of those who have been born agairiy 
 but of those who are bom of God, " and abiding 
 in God." So might we, I think, at once preserve 
 both the harmony of our doctrine, and the power 
 of our preaching. i 
 
 But I am weary of wandering in the wilderness 
 of controversy. The path of polemics is a path 
 of difficulty and thorns. To walk therein can 
 bring no pleasure to a pious or a peaceful mind; 
 and few can persevere in the pursuit of its intri- 
 cacies, and the contemplation of its acrimony, 
 without finding his charity within him to dwindle, 
 ftnd tiis spirit within him to fail. Suffer us then 
 to think, that we have spoken the language of our 
 Divines, of our Church, and of our Bible ; that 
 we have maintained the doctrine of the Liturgy 
 and of Scripture. And if scriptural, it must be 
 practical. 
 
 Turn we then, for one single moment, to exar- 
 mine what those practical inferences are, to which 
 this doctrine of baptismal regeneration leads. 
 
 If we have spoken the truth, every one here 
 has been born again of the Spirit. As infants, 
 they were brought by the piety of their parents to 
 the fountain of life, to the cleansing waters of 
 healing and of baptism, and passing through thelaver 
 of regeneration, vvere there and then regenerated, 
 by the Holy Ghost. They have all received the. 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration. 105 
 
 new and spiritual birth. But are they all living 
 the new and spiritual life ? Many that are borix 
 do die, and never reach that maturity of strength, 
 and those powers of bod^- and of mind, for the at- 
 tainment and the use of which they are born^ into 
 the world. Many that are born do die, some in 
 infancy and some in youth, some in folly and 
 some in pride, and many through the neglect, and 
 many through the abuse, of their faculties, do 
 linger out a wretched and diseased existence with- 
 out Vigour, without health, and without hope. 
 It is the same too in the spiritual life, and the 
 analogy may still be continued with a mournful 
 truth. Many have been born agaiii who, as spi- 
 ritual creatures, are dying or are dead. Of all 
 that were brought to the waters of baptism, of all 
 the filth of whose flesh has been washed away, 
 and into whom the principle of godliness has 
 been infused, and the power of becoming the 
 sons of God been given ; how few there be, that'in 
 the hour of life that now is, in the hour of death 
 that shall be, and in the day of judgement that 
 must be, will be able to bring the answer of a 
 good conscience before God ! All have been born 
 again, but all are not born of God, or abiding in 
 God. All have been regenerated, but all are not 
 now regenerate ; and their spiritual life remaineth 
 not, or flourisheth not in them. Some are I»urie4 
 
1 05 Nature of Baptisnial Regeneration. 
 
 in sins, and some have fallen asleep in negligence. 
 Some in carelessness, and some in wickedness, 
 and some in violence, have checked, or weakened, 
 or, perchance, have quenched the principle of light 
 and love. And many there be, who, through in- 
 dolence, perverseness, or contempt, are no more 
 than very children in holiness still; — s ill tottering in 
 the weakness and helplessness of spiritual infancy. 
 They have never duly cherished and improved the 
 means of growing in grace, and so have never at- 
 tained unto the perfect man, or reached " the 
 measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." 
 For the seed of holiness, that is sown in our hearts 
 in baptism, may so deca}', or die for want of cul- 
 tivation, as either to bring forth no fruit at all, 
 or no fruit unto perfection. Examine therefore 
 yourselves brethren, whether, after having been 
 born unto God, ye live unto God ; whether, the 
 Spirit having been given you to profit withal, ye, 
 according to the measure of that Spirit, have 
 worked withal. The Spirit indeed worketh when 
 and how it listeth, and we know not vvhen or 
 ,how. But we know its power, and we know its 
 eflfecis. We refer you not therefore to feelings, 
 but to facts, in order to learn whether ye are con- 
 tinuing, as ye ought to do, to shew forth in your 
 lives the evidences of your regeneration. I'he works 
 ^f the workings of the Spirit are these : peace, and 
 
Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, 107' 
 
 faith, and love, and every virtue ; and ev^'y vir- 
 tue proceeding out of a good and honest heart, 
 and unfeigned sincerity of obedience to the will 
 of God. If these things then be in you and 
 abound, blessed are ye ; for then ye are the sons 
 of God, led by his Spirit, and the heirs, through 
 perseverance, of everlasting glory. But, if these 
 things be in you only imperfectly, or casually, or 
 feebly, all hope indeed is not departed forever; 
 but it may well become you to remember, to 
 " stir up the gift of God which is in you," 
 through baptism, and by temperance, sobriet}^ 
 and chastity; by meditation, and piety, and 
 prayer; by every Common virtue, which obtains 
 the praise of man ; and much more by the prac- 
 tice of every uncommon duty, which is despised 
 and neglected of men, to seek after the praise of 
 God, and labour to restore the health, and pre- 
 serve the life of your souls ; lest the angel of 
 death should come, and ye should be found wicked 
 or wan tin 2:. But if none of these things be in 
 you, or remain in you at all ; if seeking for good- 
 ness in your hearts, ye can find none ; if there b©> 
 in you the powers of reasoning, without the effects 
 of righteousness ; the labour of learning, without 
 learning to do well in any measure or degree; 
 if there be in you the excellency of speech, and 
 the barren glories of understanding and know- 
 
108 Nature of Baptismal Regeneration, 
 
 ledge, without any of the real and eternal ex- 
 cellencies of purity and godliness; the truth 
 must be spoken, though with tears ; if ye have 
 utterly quenched, and are altogether dead to 
 the Spirit, it is impossible, says the Apostle, 
 " for those who were made partakers of the 
 Holy Ghost, and were once enlightened, and 
 have tasted of the heavenly gift ; if they should 
 fall away, to renew them again unto repentance." 
 Yet we would not wish to bruise tne broken 
 reed, though we do thus speak. Those that fear 
 lest they should be dead to the Spirit, we would 
 comfort with the assurance that they are not so. 
 JFor wherever there is spiritual fear, there is 
 spiritual hope, seeing, that " the fear of the 
 Lord is the beginning of wisdom." And even of 
 those, that appear to be lost to God and drowned 
 in iniquity, we would not too boldly speak, as 
 if they were irremediably lost beyond the very 
 power and possibility of redemption, lest we 
 should be found to have spoken foolishly in the 
 matter, and sinned in discouraging a soul, 
 whom it was the intention of Heaven to save. 
 If onr.e, indeed, we be really and altogether 
 dead, every human source of consolation is gone, 
 •nd without the intervention of a miracle, we 
 can never live unto the S[)irit again. But it 
 bath sometimes been known, that when most of 
 
Kature of Baptismal Regeneration. IO9 
 
 all the body did seem dead to those around, 
 some spark of life did yet linger in the languid 
 frame, and power was given to man to reanimate 
 that spari<, and the seemingly dead did live. 
 It may be the same too in the spiritual life, 
 end those in whom the seed of grace is, to all 
 outward appearance, corrupted and destroyed, 
 those in whom the principle of holiness ha$ 
 been the longest inactive, who can tell whether 
 it be utterly lost ; or whether it may not, by di- 
 ligence, be renovated into strength ? This is a 
 jsecret which belongeth unto God, and which he 
 has graciously retained within his own know- 
 ledge, at once to prevent us from being hurried 
 into perdition by the carelessness of confidence^ 
 or the wretchlcssness of despair. 
 
 But after all, beloved, we are persuaded better 
 things of you, and things which accompany sal- 
 vation. We are persuaded, that so highly do 
 you value the privilege of your baptism, and 
 that you esteem the gift of the Spirit to be so 
 very precious, that neither tribulation or dis* 
 tress, principalities or powers, things present or 
 things to come, shall be able to separate yoij 
 from the obedience of God. And, in this holy 
 confidence, we pray, that your love may abound 
 yet more and more in all judgment, so that ye 
 may approve the things and the doctrines thjat 
 are really excellent and true. 
 
 t 
 
1 1 Natu re of Baptismal Regeneration. 
 
 But above all, let your conversation be as it 
 becometh your baptism into the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ, in the power of faith, and the spirit of 
 love. 
 
 THE iiri>. 
 
 Printed bj K. aud R. Gilbert, St. John't Square, Loudon. 
 
I ^, 2-4 
 
 
m:-.-/' 
 
 
 
 :S#i» 
 
 4r^, 
 
 ^'