Baptistery

“ Of baptism the people were to be taught that it was ordained in the New Testament as a thing necessary for everlasting salvation, according to the saying of Christ, 'No man can enter into the kingdom of heaven except he be born again of water and the Holy Ghost.' The promises of grace attached to the sacrament of baptism appertained not only to such as had the use of reason, but also to infants, innocents, and children, who, therefore, ought to be baptized, and by baptism obtain remission of sin, and be made thereby sons and children of God. ”

“ The Church of England (Article xxvii.) defines baptism to be, “not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened; but it is also a sign of regeneration, or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive baptism rightly are grafted into the Church: the promises of the forgiveness of sin, of our adoption to be the sons of God, by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed, faith is confirmed, and grace increased, by virtue of prayer to God.” ”

“ Now we may justly conclude that as the church was made up of such as had embraced the various sentiments of that day, and none other than the one taught by him was acceptable in the sight of God, that he should urge upon the churches with peculiar force, that there was one Lord, one faith, one baptism. It is a well known fact to every reader of ancient history, that in that day and age of the world, as well as in all subsequent periods to the present time, there were, and are still, those who worship other beings than the God of heaven. ”

“ The visible church is the representative and type of that invisible body of Christ, the members of which are incorporated therein by the baptism of the Spirit. Baptism with water is a symbol, merely, of that spiritual grace. The recipient may be truly united to the Lord Jesus. But such union is not produced by the ritual ordinance. The effect can ascend no higher than the cause. A symbolic baptism can accomplish no more than a symbolic union, a union in outward semblance and name. ”

“ While they have justly and irrefragably maintained that nothing can be Christian baptism which has not at once the form and the meaning ordained by Christ, we have been weakly disposed to imagine ourselves patterns of charity, in admitting the validity of immersion, while denying it to be the form or to have the meaning which Christ ordained. As if such an ordinance, from the great Head of the Church, could have in it any thing indifferent, or subject to our discretion, whether in doctrine or mode! ”

“ Baptists hold to a unity of the ordinance, as well as to a oneness of the faith; insisting that as there is but one Lord, and one faith, so there is but one baptism. And the dipping in water of a professed disciple of Christ is that one baptism. Neither sprinkling a person with water, nor pouring water upon him can by any possibility be Christian baptism. That this position is the true one, we appeal to the New Testament, and the best extant historical and philological authorities to establish. ”

“ A. As baptism is the door by which we enter into the fold of Jesus Christ, the first means by which we receive the grace of reconciliation with God, therefore the merits of His death are by baptism applied to our souls in so superabundant a manner as fully to satisfy the Divine justice for all demands against us, whether for original or actual sin; and therefore God grants in it a full and perfect remission of our past sins, and of all the punishment due to them. ”

“ The rubric directs that the people are to be admonished, that it is most convenient that baptism shall not be administered but upon Sundays and other holy days, when the most number of people come together; as well for that the congregation there present may testify the receiving of them that be newly baptized into the number of Christ’s Church, as also because in the baptism of infants, every man present may be put in remembrance of his own profession made to God in his baptism. ”

“ Baptism is the first of the seven sacraments which the Church confers upon man. It cleanses us from original sin (actual sin also if the recipient be guilty of any) , makes us Christians, children of God, and heirs of heaven. It prepares us for the reception of the other sacraments. By Baptism we all contracted the obligation of believing and practising the doctrines of Jesus Christ as taught us by the true Church. We fulfil this obligation by leading a truly Christian life. ”

“ Who can forbear to speak of what everybody sees? And thus we recognize baptism in the Scriptures as a command of the Lord, and a certain clear practice of the apostles. Moreover, we also clearly see, what cause baptism has, why it is administered, what benefits it brings, to what people it is adapted, and what other name it has in the Scriptures. It is, in the first place, a grave of sin, an entering into the church of God, a putting on of Christ, a fleeing from the wrath of God, a washing of regeneration, and the seal of a good conscience toward God. ”

“ Now, my friends, the Bible says, in the place I have quoted, that baptism is for the remission of sins. Do we believe this? If we do, you know, we must also come to the conclusion necessarily that we cannot have a remission of sins without it. If God has placed the ordinance of baptism in His Church, as part of His divine system for a certain purpose, the object cannot be obtained without it. The means which God reveals for certain purposes must be used. ”

“ In the case of all adults, the Scriptures represent faith in Christ as the necessary prerequisite to baptism, and baptism as a rite by which those who had already consecrated themselves to Christ, or been converted, made a public profession of the fact, received a pledge of the divine favor, or of forgiveness of sins, and were admitted to membership in the visible church. The same inspired records also teach, that if men are destitute of this faith, if they believe not, they shall be damned, notwithstanding their baptism. ”

“ They must be persons dead to sin, and alive to God; born again, through the operation of the Spirit. 2. Baptism. Buried with Christ in baptism on a profession of faith in Him. No person, however good, and however manifestly regenerate, is prepared without baptism, according to the [p. 113] Divine order, to receive the Supper. Without baptism he cannot enter the fellowship of the church, where the Supper alone is to be enjoyed. 3. An orderly walk is necessary. An upright and consistent Christian walk, and godly conversation among the saints, and before the world. ”

“ That is the meaning of the words in the Baptism Service which tell you that you were baptised into Jesus Christ, that you might put off the old man—the sinful, slavish, selfish, unmanly pattern of life, which we all lead by nature; and put on the new man—the holy and noble, righteous and loving pattern of life, which is the likeness of the Lord Jesus. That is the message of your baptism to you; that you are God’s children, and that God’s will and wish is that you should grow up to become His sons, to serve Him lovingly, trustingly, manfully ”

“ And when it is our unhappiness to break our baptismal covenant, and forfeit our right to God's promises, by our sins and misdoings--how gracious is God, to permit us, upon our repentance, again to renew it at His Holy Table! again to repeat our vows of obedience, and regain our title to His heavenly promises! It has ever been the doctrine of the Catholic Church, that as when we worthily receive Baptism, we obtain through Christ remission of all past sins," so when we worthily communicate at God's Altar we obtain remission of all the sins committed since Baptism. ”

“ The view here presented is further involved in the relation between baptism and discipleship, intimated in the words of Jesus,—“Disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name.” Christ came as the revealer of the Godhead, the Prophet of Israel, as well as her royal Priest. The preaching of the gospel is the fulfillment of his prophetic function, and those whether Jews or Gentiles, who accept it are to be enrolled as disciples of Christ, by being baptized into the name or profession of the faith of the triune Godhead, as revealed by him, in the gospel. ”

“ The number generally accepted was seven: baptism, confirmation, holy eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony. By means of the sacraments the Church accompanied the faithful throughout life. Baptism, the pouring of water, cleansed the child from original sin and from all previous actual sins, and made him a Christian, a child of God, and an heir of heaven. The priest was the ordinary minister of baptism, but in case of necessity any one who had the use of reason might baptize. ”

“ In the vth Chapter of this Epistle there appears another allusion to baptism, when the Apostle says, that “Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” (v. 26.) It is not necessary to the sense and force of this verse to suppose that baptism is referred to in it; for the word of God has a cleansing and sanctifying power, when applied by His Spirit. “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth;” was Christ’s prayer for His disciples to His heavenly Father. ”

“ Our church believes that a person must first be baptized."
"You mean," said Dorothy, "that your church and the Baptists believe alike on the communion question?"
"Not exactly. We both believe that baptism must come before the communion, but we differ as to what constitutes baptism."
"Does the Bible teach that a person must be baptized before he can commune?"
"The Bible teaches that all who believed were immediately baptized. That always seemed to be the first thing they did." ”

“ And, singularly enough, this is the very Epistle in which St. Paul says, “I thank God that I baptized none of you,”—and “Christ sent me not be baptize, but to preach the Gospel.” (1 Cor. i. 14, 17.) He will find that baptism is spoken of with deep reverence, and in close connection with the highest privileges and blessings. Baptized people are said to be “buried with Christ,”—to have “put on Christ,”—to have “risen again,”—and even (by straining a doubtful text) to have the “washing of regeneration.” ”

“ Therefore the effects of the sacrament of baptism can never be produced in our soul a second time.
Q. 23. What dispositions are required for receiving this sacrament?
A. In young children no dispositions are required, because they are incapable of any; but in adults, the dispositions required for receiving the graces of baptism are: (i.) That the person be willing to receive it; (2.) That he have faith in Jesus Christ; and (3.) That he have true repentance of his sins. ”

“ So that, in fact, we say not that any one is regenerated at baptism, according to the meaning of these words in the lips of our opponents. And if they will not admit that baptism is the Divinely appointed medium of regeneration in our sense of that term, what grace can they imagine so trifling as to comport with their views of that sacrament, and at the same time so lofty and essential, as to be contemplated by Christ in the solemn institution of a sacrament ”

“ But baptism is theirs,—the seal of the Sinai covenant, in which, now, the rights of the Gentiles are equal. “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”—Rom. x, 12.
Section XCIX.—“Else were your Children unclean but now are they Holy.” We have the express testimony of inspiration, to the children’s right within the pale of the church. Says Paul to the Corinthians,—“The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. ”

“ Mark, which is read in our baptismal office, in which we are told, that the Lord Jesus Christ, having rebuked those that would have kept the children from him, took them up in his arms and blessed them. He blessed them, and his blessing must have conveyed grace to their souls; therefore, of grace, children may be partakers. They may receive spiritual life, though it may be long before that life develope itself; and that life they may lose by sinning.
BAPTISM, LAY. We shall briefly state the history of lay baptism in our Church both before and after the Reformation. ”

“ In the same way in the Catholic Church of this day, when a convert asks the same question, he gets the same answer: Seek in faith and repentance the cleansing of baptism, and thou shalt be joined unto Christ. Dost thou wish to know the life thou must practise? It is written in the ten commandments and the precepts of the Church. Dost thou wish to know where thou wilt gain strength to keep these laws? In prayer and the sacraments. The Church tells you how many there are, what is their efficacy, and the conditions of their saving operation. Art thou in sin after baptism? ”

“ There is no statement to the effect that he was or was not baptized; but his understanding of the gospel is shown by his request: for in that is implied a knowledge of the resurrection, ascension and return of Christ into His kingdom who will be bold enough to affirm that such a degree of intelligence in the gospel had not yielded obedience in baptism? The blessing of being in the kingdom with Christ is predicated upon baptism based upon belief of the Truth; and since our Lord promised the thief he should be with him in paradise, or the kingdom, it follows that baptism had been submitted to. ”