Communications.

BRIEF THOUGHTS ON BAPTISM.

(Continued from page 243.) We have contemplated some of the uses of baptism when administered to adults. Let us now inquire into the uses of this ordinance when applied to infants. Here, as in many other things, men run into opposite extremes. Some magnify the benefit of this Christian rite beyond what inspired writers warrant us to expect; while others, equally mistaken in their views of duty, reject it as unscriptural and useless. The former affirm baptism to be regeneration; believing that all infants, washed in the name of the adorable Three, are delivered from the corruption of their nature, and endued with a new principle of spiritual life. To this opinion we cannot assent. We reprobate it as unfounded and dangerous. That the Almighty can regenerate an infant by his grace, is not to be doubted; and from the admission of this fact, it will follow that, if he please, he may communicate spiritual life at the moment in which a child receives the outward sign of this great and necessary blessing. But from the power of God to do a thing, we cannot infer his determination to do it. His omnipotence, which, by a word, brought this world into existence, is able to create, in the same way, ten thousand other worlds this moment; but no one is so extravagant as to found on this fact an exVOL. I.

pectation of seeing, in this, or in the next hour, such stupendous exhibitions of Almighty power. The power of Jehovah to regenerate a child in the act of being baptized, supplies no ground of expectation that he will do so: nor could we infer even from occasional occurrences of such a connexion between the rite and the thing signified, any thing like a uniform procedure of a sovereign God in dispensing renewing grace in conjunction with his own appointed ordinance.

If we look at the conduct of baptized children, we shall find no evidence to support this extravagant opinion. Alas! too generally they discover unequivocal signs of a depraved nature, and of being under its full and unbroken dominion. They need, as well as unbaptized children, to be regenerated. If baptism be regeneration, then, for the same reason, circumcision must have been regeneration; and consequently none of the seed of Abraham, who had received this initiatory rite of the church, would have needed the quickening process of renewing grace, how much soever they may have needed repentance and reformation. But our blessed Lord affirmed the necessity of being born again, in the most comprehensive terms; and he doubtless had respect to Nicodemus, with whom he was conversing, and all other circumcised Jews who had not been born again, as well as to Heathen men who were destitute of the seal of God's covenant. Simon Magus 20

was baptized; yet he gave such indubitable evidences of being destitute of spiritual life, that the apostle Peter pronounced him to be "in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." Acts, viii. 23.

Others run into the opposite extreme. They deny the obligation of infant baptism, and reject it as a useless and unscriptural ceremony. They demand from us a warrant to justify our practice. In the cursory view we are taking of this subject, a formal discussion of this point cannot be expected. A few hints only will comport with our design.

Let it be observed then, that infants were members of the Jewish church, and by divine appointment wore the seal of a covenant relation to Israel's God; that the identical covenant sealed by circumcision, has come down to the Christian church, with all its promises and privileges; that not one word can be adduced from the inspired records, to show that infants have been disfranchised of their chartered privileges enjoyed through a long succession of ages, and expelled as aliens from the house of God in which it was their happiness to dwell; and that under the present dispensation, the privileges of all the members of the church have been, not diminished, but augmented. Infants then of Christian parents we cannot but regard as sustaining a covenant relation to God, and as entitled to membership in his church. We, therefore, think ourselves justified in demanding in our turn, a warrant for depriving infants of a privilege secured to them by covenant. We ask, when, and by what authority, was this covenant abolished, or altered in any essential feature? We appeal to the writings of Paul, as furnishing incontestible proof of its perpetuity; and of the fact, that, as Christians. were contemplated in its original institution as the spiritual seed of Abraham, so have they a right to claim for themselves and children

a share in its ample blessings. Now, we have seen in a former paper, that baptism has succeeded to the place of circumcision as the sign and seal of God's covenant; and consequently it follows, that the application of this rite pertains to all who have an interest in the covenant; and therefore that infants are now to be baptized, as they were formerly circumcised.

The simple fact that baptism is applied to children by divine appointment, ought to be sufficient to satisfy our minds, whether we can see the advantages of it or not, that it must be beneficial, and cannot be an useless ceremony. The appointments of infinite wisdom and goodness will ever be found profitable to those who observe them in the prescribed way.

But we are not left to this naked exercise of faith. It is easy to discover various ways in which infant baptism conduces to our edification. That sealed union to the church, which baptized children enjoy, is not to be regarded as an inconsiderable benefit. "Salvation," said our Lord, "is of the Jews;" and it is equally true that salvation is of the Christian church. The blessings of salvation, its light, and grace, and life, are transmitted, from age to age, in the line of God's people's seed. At times Jehovah may step beyond their habitations, to bless those who are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, and bring them into his church: but uniformly the blessings of salvation are bestowed on the covenant seed; and the children rise up to succeed their parents in maintaining the worship of God in the world. Let us not be misunderstood. We do not assert that grace descends from father to son, like a worldly inheritance; for it is now true, as it always was, "They are not all Israel that are of Israel; that is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God:

but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." "Rom. ix. 6. 8. But we affirm, that although thousands of baptized individuals may never receive saving grace, and die in unbelief; yet, as Jehovah always had among the Jews an election of grace, even in the most degenerate times, who adhered to his worship, so he has, in every age of the Christian world, selected subjects of his renewing grace from among the descendants of his professing people. The history of the church is replete with proofs of this fact. And no wonder; for it is but the fulfilment of the covenant promise, by which Jehovah has condescended to engage to be a God to his people and to their seed after them. Gen. xvii. 7.

Doubtless it is a great privilege to belong to that society on which the Almighty looks with such benignant smiles; a society from which he selects the subjects of his grace and the heirs of his heavenly kingdom. Baptized members of it have, it must be admitted, a fairer prospect of being called by the Spirit of God to fellowship with him in his saving love, than those who are not members. They are in that nursery from which the Lord takes the trees of righteousness, and plants them in his garden, that they may flourish beneath his special care and cultivation.

Nor should it be deemed an unimportant advantage that the promises of the covenant are presented to baptized children in a sealed form. The gospel may be freely and indiscriminately preached; the heralds of the cross may sound through the world the delightful assurance, "He that believeth shall be saved:" but while the baptized participate in all the encouragement to be derived from this general promise, they may contemplate this and all other promises of the covenant as confirmed by a seal, and presented to them in this inviting form. They may behold

the Supreme Being, stooping to their weakness, and condescending to encourage their faith, by increasing the assurance of his infallible word by his own appointed sign; and hear him speaking to them in this cheering language: "Sinner, I know the unbelief of thy heart. My naked word ought to inspire thee with unhesitating confidence; and I might justly leave to the destructive consequences of their unbelief, all who will not rely upon my promise: but, in compassion to the infirmity of thy fallen nature, I graciously add my token to my word; and, by this visible sign, I assure thee, that I will fulfil all my promises. As certainly as thou hast been washed with the water of baptism, so certainly will I bestow on thee all the blessings of my covenant, if thou accept of them by faith in Jesus Christ, my well beloved Son."

Baptism most certainly imposes an obligation on all to whom it is applied. The inability of infant children to understand the nature and design of this ordinance, and to consent to receive it, cannot annul the obligation, They are the creatures of God; and he has a perfect right to require his people to devote their offspring to him. And is it not the duty of their children, the moment they become capable of moral agency, to consent to be the Lord's? Are they at liberty to choose whether they will serve him or not? Are they not bound by imperious obligations to devote themselves to the service and glory of that Almighty Being, from whom they have received their existence and faculties? What is baptism but a recognition of this truth? What do parents in presenting their offspring in this sacred ordinance, but acknowledge that they belong to God; and therefore dedicate them to his service, engaging to endeavour to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? The recollection then of this solemn

transaction, when they were presented to their Maker in baptism, and consecrated to his glory by their parents, is certainly calculated to awaken in them a sense of their duty to God, and to restrain them from a course of sin. It lays too a foundation for frequent addresses to them from the pulpit. Ministers may claim baptized youth as the peculiar property of God, on which he has been pleased to set his seal; and plead with them, as they would not forfeit those great privileges to which they have been introduced as members of the church, not to continue living in a way that will bring down upon them so heavy a loss; but to secure to themselves all the blessings of that gracious covenant into which they have been admit

ted.

That parents who present their children in baptism, are brought under very serious obligations, will not be questioned; for they expressly engaged to perform the duty of parents to their offspring by instructing them in the knowledge of divine things, by praying with them, and setting before them a Christian example. Now, it is true that antecedently to the reception of this ordinance, they are under imperious obligations to take care of the spiritual welfare of their children; but it cannot be reasonably doubted, that the solemn recognition of these obligations, and solemn engagements to perform them, must have a very salutary influence in keeping a sense of them alive upon the mind, and of stimulating them to do their duty. Here, then, is another advantage of infant baptism; an advantage in which both parents and children participate: to the one, as it serves to incite them to discharge a duty they might otherwise neglect, or to rouse them to a more careful performance of it; to the other, because they are benefited in proportion as their parents attend to the interests of their immortal souls.

Parents ought to make a due use of infant baptism. They should inform their children, as soon as they are capable of understanding it, of the interesting transaction that took place in the house of God; how, in the presence of a whole assembly of worshipping Christians, they were solemnly dedicated to God. They should endeavour to impress their minds with a deep sense of the obligations imposed on them by that transaction, and urge them to renew the engagements then made by a personal surrender of themselves to God. Let them also plead the baptism of their children in prayer, as an argument to enforce their titions. Let them humbly remind the Lord that they have given their children to him, and earnestly pray that he would in mercy make them his in an everlasting covenant. Let them beseech him to fulfil his great promise to his church in their experience, by giving them new hearts and new spirits. They are thine, O God, by baptism, make them thine by grace. They are sealed by thine appointed ordinance, O seal them by thy Spirit."

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Baptized children are placed under the guardian care and parental watch of the church. The church is bound to provide for them that instruction which is needful to them; to inspect their morals; to admonish them when they go astray; to bear them on her heart before the throne of grace, and implore for them all the blessings of salvation; and to furnish them with inviting examples of Christian piety. It is indeed the duty of the church to endeavour to diffuse abroad among the nations the light of the blessed gospel; but while she looks with a compassionate eye on the desolate places of the earth, she is bound especially to strive to promote the interests of her own members, and bring them to behold the light of the truth, and to rejoice in the salvation

of Christ.

The frequent administration of

baptism manifests the kindness and wisdom of God, in providing for the edification of his church. We need repeatedly to be reminded of our duty; and God, who knows our frail nature, has so arranged the order of his house, as to meet our wants. Whenever a child is dedicated in baptism, all parents who witness it are reminded of their engagements, and all baptized children of the duty which they owe to that Supreme Being, to whom they were devoted in their infancy. This provision is made for keeping alive a sense of the obligations imposed by this invaluable ordinance.

In conclusion let it be observed, that baptism is a source of grateful recollections to every pious mind. "How tender," may the Christian say, were the mercies of God! I was not born of Heathen parents, and dedicated to some idol; but of Christian parents, who felt their obligations to consecrate me to the service of the one only living and true God. In my infancy he was graciously pleased to take me into his covenant, and make me a member of his church. He favoured me with the instructions both of my parents and of his ministers; and now, although I wandered from him, and requited his kindness with base ingratitude, he has been pleased to enrich me with his saving grace. I acknowledge the infinite debt of gratitude. I give myself to his service. I am his, and I rejoice to be his for ever and ever."

J. J. J.

FOR THE PRESBYTERIAN MAGAZINE.
BRIEF DISCOURSES- -NO. IV.

On all Things working together for

Good to them that love God.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." ROMANS, viii. 28.

Were we to form our judgments of the characters of our fellow creatures invariably from the fortunate or unfortunate events which befal

them, it must at once appear obvious that such judgments would, very frequently, prove exceedingly false and uncandid. In the pro

gress of human life, the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong. The gifts of Heaven appear to be bestowed without the least distinction. The fool and the wise man often seem to meet with the same success.

But in the midst of this seeming confusion, an unerring and superintending Providence presides.There is a secret plan, which the wisdom and skill of mortals cannot unfold, hastening forward to completion. The humble worshipper, whose pious accents no human ear ever heard, and whose benevolent actions none but those to whom they were performed ever witnessed, passes not unregarded by his heavenly Father. While the ungodly seem to prosper, and, in the midst of their impiety, appear to enjoy more than the righteous believer, there may be some secret operation going forward that may terminate ultimately in their eternal ruin. We are expressly informed in the text, that those who love God are exposed to no such danger. They dwell amidst the munition of rocks, and the Eternal is their defence. To them prosperity and adversity, in one sense, are equally indifferent-these may promote, but they cannot retard, their future good: for all things shall co-operate for good to them that love God. To illustrate the truth of this proposition shall be the object of this discourse.

But before immediately entering on the illustration, there are two things which shortly claim our attention. These are the OBJECTS concerning whom the declaration is given, and that GOOD, to accomplish which all things are said to co-ope

rate.

To love God is the requisition of the first commandment of the moral law. It is the incumbent duty of