the Nature of every Man that is naturally engendered of the off-spring of Adam whereby it becomes averse from every thing that is good and inclinable to every thing that is evil The nature of that corruption more particularly enquir'd into and shewn by probable Arguments to be no other than a Privation of a Supernatural Grace That there is such a thing as we have before described evidenced at large from the Scripture and that evidence farther strengthned by the experience we have of its effects and the acknowledgments of the wiser Heathen Enquiry next made from whence it had its beginning which is shewn to have been not from any evil Spirit or Daemon the pravity of matter or the evil habits the Soul contracted in a praeexistent state but from the pravity of our first Parents This last at large confirm'd out of the Doctrine of the Scripture and followed by some light reflections upon the means by which it is conveyed A more just account from the Scripture of its being truly and properly a sin partly from its having the title of a sin but more especially from its being represented as such upon the account of our Obligation to the contrary A consideration of those Objections which are commonly made against the Doctrine of Original Sin Which are shewn either not to be of that force whereof they are esteem'd or however not to be a sufficient bar to what the Scripture hath declar'd concerning it p. 89 The Contents of the Fourth Part. Of the things signified by Baptism on the part of God or its inward and spiritual Grace THE things signified by Baptism are either more general or particular More general as that Covenant of Grace which passeth between God and Man and that body of Men which enter into Covenant with him More particular what the same God doth by vertue of that Covenant oblige himself to bestow upon the Baptized and what those Baptized ones do on their part undertake to perform These latter ones proposed to be considered and entrance made with the consideration of what God obligeth himself to bestow upon the Baptized called by the Church An inward and spiritual Grace Which inward and spiritual Grace is shewn to be of two sorts to wit such as tend more immediately to our spiritual and eternal welfare or such as only qualifie us for those Graces that do so To the former sort are reckon'd that inward and spiritual Grace which tends to free us from the guilt of sin called by the Church forgiveness of sin That which tends to free us from the pollution of sin called by our Catechism A death unto it And that which tends to introduce the contrary purity and hath the name of a New birth unto righteousness To the latter sort is reckoned our union to that Body of which Christ Jesus is the Head and by means whereof he dispenseth the former Graces to us Each of these resum'd and considered in their order and shewn to be what they are usually stil'd the inward and spiritual Graces of Baptism or the things signified by the outward visible Sign thereof p. 185 The Contents of the Fifth Part. Of Forgiveness of sin by Baptism OF the relation of the sign of Baptism to its inward and spiritual Grace and particularly to Forgiveness of sin Which is either that of a means fitted by God to convey it or of a pledge to assure the Baptized person of it The former of these relations more particularly considered as that too with respect to Forgiveness of Sin in the general or the Forgiveness of all Sin whatsoever and Original Sin in particular As to the former whereof is alledged first the Scriptures calling upon Men to be Baptiz'd for the remission or forgiveness of sin Secondly the Church's making that Forgiveness a part of her Belief and Doctrine Thirdly the agreeing opinions or practices of those who were either unsound members of it or Separatists from it And Fourthly the Calumnies of its enemies The like evidence made of the latter from the Scripture's proposing Baptism and its Forgiveness as a remedy against the greatest guilts and in special against that wrath which we are Children of by Nature From the premises is shewn that the sign of Baptism is a pledge to assure the Baptized of Forgiveness as well as a means fitted by God for the conveying of it p. 203 The Contents of the Sixth Part. Of Mortification of sin and Regeneration by Baptism OF the relation of the sign of Baptism to such inward and spiritual Graces as tend to free us from the pollution of sin or introduce the contrary purity And that relation shewn to be no less than that of a means whereby they are convey'd This evidenced as to the former even our death unto sin which is also explain'd from such Texts of Scripture as make mention of our being baptiz'd into it and buried by Baptism in it or from such as describe us as cleansed by the washing of it The like evidenc'd from the same Scripture concerning the latter even our new birth unto righteousness As that again farther clear'd as to this particular by the consentient Doctrine and practice of the Church by the opinion the Jews had of that Baptism which was a Type and exemplar of ours and the expressions of the Heathen concerning it The Doctrine of the Church more largely insisted upon and exemplified from Justin Martyr Tertullian and S. Cyprian p. 217 The Contents of the Seventh Part. Of our Union to the Church by Baptism OF the relation of the sign of Baptism to our Vnion to the Church and that relation shewn to be no less than that of a means whereby that Vnion is made This evidenc'd in the first place from the declarations of the Scripture more particularly from its affirming all Christians to be baptiz'd into that Body as those who were first baptiz'd after the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles to have been thereby added to their company and made partakers with the rest in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship in breaking of Bread and in Prayers The like evidence of the same Union to the Church by Baptism from the declarations of the Church it self and the consequences of that Vnion shewn to be such as to make that also to be accounted one of the inward and spiritual Graces of that Baptism by which it is made p. 237 The Contents of the Eighth Part. Of the Profession that is made by the Baptized Person THE things signified by Baptism on the part of the baptized brought under consideration and shewn from several former discourses which are also pointed to to be an Abrenunciation of sin a present belief of the Doctrine of Christianity and particularly of the Trinity and a resolution for the time to come to continue in that belief and act agreeably to its Laws Our resolution of acting agreeably to the Laws of Christianity more particularly consider'd and the Profession thereof shewn by several
forgiveness of sin That which tends to free us from the pollution of sin called by our Catechism A death unto it And that which tends to introduce the contrary purity and hath the name of a New birth unto righteousness To the latter sort is reckoned our union to that Body of which Christ Jesus is the Head and by means whereof he dispenseth the former Graces to us Each of these resum'd and considered in their order and shewn to be what they are usually stil'd the inward and spiritual Graces of Baptism or the things signified by the outward visible Sign thereof BUT to return to that from which I have diverted even the things signified by the outward visible sign of Baptism which are either more general or particular More general as that Covenant of Grace which passeth between God and Man and that Body of Men which enter into Covenant with him More particular what the same God doth by vertue of that Covenant oblige himself to bestow upon the Baptized and what those Baptized ones do on their part make profession of Of those more general things I have given some account already * Of the Sacraments in general Part 2. and shall have occasion as I go to add yet farther light to them I will therefore proceed forthwith to the consideration of the more particular ones such as are on the part of God an inward and Spiritual Grace and on the part of the Baptiz'd an abrenuntiation of their former sins and a resolution to believe and act as Christianity obligeth them to do Now the inward and Spiritual Grace of Baptism is of two sorts to wit such as tend more immediately to our spiritual and eternal welfare or such as only qualifie us for those Graces that do so Of the former sort again is that inward and Spiritual Grace which tends to free us from the guilt of sin best known by the name of forgiveness or that which tends to free us from the pollution of sin called by our Catechism a death unto it or lastly that which tends to introduce the contrary purity and hath the name of a new birth unto Righteousness Of the latter sort is our union to that body of which Christ Jesus is the head and by means of which he dispenseth the former Graces to us For that each of these is signified on the part of God by the outward visible sign of Baptism and consequently is a part of its inward and Spiritual Grace will appear if we descend to particulars which therefore I will now set my self to do To begin with those inward and Spiritual Graces which tend more immediately to our spiritual and eternal welfare Among which as I assign'd the first place to forgiveness of sin so I shall make it my business to shew first that that is a Grace which is signified by the outward visible sign of Baptism and Secondly give a more particular account of the nature of that forgiveness which I have said to be signified by the other That forgiveness of sin is a Grace signified by the outward visible sign of Baptism will appear if these two things can be made out First that the outward visible sign of Baptism hath a relation to the forgiveness of sin and Secondly that it hath the relation of a sign unto it For if the outward visible sign of Baptism hath the relation of a sign to the forgiveness of sin Forgiveness of sin as being its correlatum must be look'd upon as signified by it That the outward visible sign of Baptism hath a relation to the forgiveness of sin S. Peter will not suffer us to doubt because admonishing †Act. 2.38 the Jews to be baptiz'd for the remission of sins And as little doubt can there well be of its having the relation of a sign unto it which is the only thing we are at present to consider Partly because Baptism hath been before * Of the Sacraments in general Part 2. shewn to have been intended by God as a sign of many things and why then not as a sign of that forgiveness to which I have shewn it equally to relate and partly because it is propos'd to us as washing away (a) Acts 22.16 the sins of those that are sprinkled with it For as if the Water of Baptism be to be considered as washing away Men's sins it must be upon the account of its being a sign of that inward Grace thereof that doth so as which alone can be a just foundation of attributing such a property to it for neither can the Water of Baptism put away Men's sins but by means of that Grace which it conveys nor with any propriety even so be said to wash them away but upon the account of the likeness there is between its own natural property and that of the divine Grace which will make the Water of Baptism a sign or representation of it So if the Water of Baptism be to be considered as washing away Men's sins it will equally lead us to believe that it ought to be considered in particular as a sign of that forgiveness whereof we speak Partly because that forgiveness is an undoubted correlatum of Baptism and partly because the term of washing away Men's sins is most frequently made use of to denote the forgiveness of sins and that outward sign therefore to which such a washing is attributed intended as a sign of the forgiveness of them I conclude therefore that whatever else may be thought to be excluded from the signification of the Water of Baptism yet it hath the relation of a sign to the forgiveness of sin and that forgiveness therefore to be look'd upon as one of the Graces signified by it And I shall only add that this was always so acknowledg'd in the Church that even the Pelagians themselves though they deny'd all sin in Infants and consequently left no place for the forgiveness of sin in them yet did allow of their being Baptiz'd for the remission of sins according to the rule of the Vniversal Church and the tenour of the Gospel as appears from the words of Pelagius himself (b) Vid. Voss Hist Pelag. li. 2. part 2. Thes 4. and those of his Scholar Coelestius There being therefore no doubt to be made that forgiveness of sin is one of those inward and Spiritual Graces which are signified by Baptism it may not be amiss for the farther clearing of that Grace to say somewhat concerning the nature of it both as to those sins it pretends to assoile and the measure of its forgiveness But because I have elsewhere (c) Expl. of the Creed Art. of The forgiveness of sins given no contemptible account thereof and shall have occasion to resume it when I come to shew what farther relation the outward visible sign of Baptism bears to this and its other inward Graces I shall content my self to observe at present that as that forgiveness which is signified by it hath
Col. 2 12. with Christ therein through the faith of the operation of him who raised him from the dead For how come Men by reason of their being alive unto God through Baptism to be affirmed to have risen with Christ in it but upon the account of that Baptism of theirs being a representation of that new life or birth which we have by the means of it as well as of the Resurrection of our Saviour I will conclude what I have to say concerning the inward and Spiritual Grace of Baptism when I have taken notice of that which though it do not immediately tend to our spiritual and eternal welfare yet qualifies us for those Graces that do Even our union to that Body of which Christ Jesus is the Head and by means of which he dispenseth the other graces to us For that that is also signified by the outward visible sign of Baptism will appear if we consider that visible sign as having a relation to it and then as having the relation of a sign Of the former whereof as S. Paul will not suffer us to doubt because affirming all (x) 1 Cor. 12.13 whether Jews or Gentiles to be baptiz'd into that body So there will be as little doubt of the other from the general design of its institution and from what S. Paul intimates in the former place concerning it That expression of being baptized into the body of Christ importing our being receiv'd by Baptism within it as the body of the Baptized is within those waters wherein he is immersed Which will consequently make that Rite a true and proper sign of Our Union to Christ's Body and that union therefore a thing signified by it Such are the things which are by Baptism signified on the part of God and Christ or that I may speak in the language of our Church the inward and spiritual Graces thereof It remains that I also shew the things signified by it on the part of the Baptized even an Abrenunciation of their former sins and a resolution to believe and act as Christianity obligeth them to do But because both the one and the other of these will be more clearly understood if they be handled apart and whatsoever is to be known concerning each of them laid as near together as may be Therefore having begun to entreat of the inward and spiritual Grace of Baptism I will continue my Discourse concerning it and accordingly go on to enquire what farther relation the outward visible sign of Baptism hath to its inward and Spiritual Grace or Graces and first of all to Forgiveness of sin PART V. Of Forgiveness of sin by Baptism The Contents Of the relation of the sign of Baptism to its inward and spiritual Grace and particularly to Forgiveness of sin Which is either that of a means fitted by God to convey it or of a pledge to assure the Baptized person of it The former of these relations more particularly considered as that too with respect to Forgiveness of Sin in the general or the Forgiveness of all Sin whatsoever and Original Sin in particular As to the former whereof is alledged first the Scriptures calling upon Men to be Baptiz'd for the remission or forgiveness of sin Secondly the Church's making that Forgiveness a part of her Belief and Doctrine Thirdly the agreeing opinions or practices of those who were either unsound members of it or Separatists from it And Fourthly the Calumnies of its enemies The like evidence made of the latter from the Scripture's proposing Baptism and its Forgiveness as a remedy against the greatest guilts and in special against that wrath which we are Children of by Nature From the premises is shewn that the sign of Baptism is a pledge to assure the Baptized of Forgiveness as well as a means fitted by God for the conveying of it NOW as the outward visible sign of Baptism hath beside that of a sign the relation of a means fitted by God to convey the inward and spiritual Grace and of a pledge to assure the Baptized person of it So being now to entreat of its relation to that of the Forgiveness of sins we must therefore consider it under each of them and first as a means fitted by God for the conveying of it In the handling whereof I will proceed in this method First I will shew that it hath indeed such a relation to Forgiveness in the general Secondly that it hath such a relation to the Forgiveness of all sins whatsoever and particularly of Original That the outward visible sign of Baptism hath such a relation to Forgiveness in the general will appear from the ensuing Topicks I. From the plain and undoubted Doctrine of the Scripture II. From the consentient Doctrine and Belief of the Church III. From the whether practices or opinions of the unsound members of it or Separatists from it IV. From the Calumnies of the open Enemies thereof I. What the Doctrine of the Scripture is in this affair cannot be unknown to any who have reflected upon what S. Peter said to those Jews who demanded of him and his fellow Apostles what they should do to avert the guilt they had contracted and what Ananias said to Paul who was remitted to him upon the same account For to the former S. Peter made answer among other things that they should be baptiz'd * Acts 2.38 for the remission of sins Which shews what Baptism was intended for and what therefore if they were duly qualified they might certainly expect from it To the latter Ananias that he should arise and be baptized †Acts 22 16. and wash away his sins Which effect as it cannot be thought to referr to any thing but the preceding Baptism and therefore neither but make that Baptism the proper means of accomplishing it So can much less be thought to exclude or rather not principally to intend the washing away the guilt of them Partly because as was before observ'd that is the most usual sense of washing away sins and partly because most agreeable to the disconsolate condition Paul was then in as well as to the foregoing declaration of S. Peter II. To the Doctrine of the Scripture subjoyn we the consentient Doctrine and belief of the Church as which though it cannot add to the Authority of the other yet will no doubt conferr much to the clearing of its sense and of that Doctrine which we have deduced from it Now what evidence there is of such a consent will need no other proof than the Doctrine of her Creed †Creed in the Communion-serv and the use she made of the simple Baptism of Infants to establish against the Pelagians the being of that Original Sin they call'd in question For how otherwise could the Church call upon Men to declare that they believ'd one Baptism for the remission of sins Yea though she thought it otherwise necessary to inculcate Baptism as well as remission and the single administration of it as
will appear to be yet harder if we consider the opinion of the Jews concerning that which may seem to have been both it's Type and exemplar For as I have made it appear before (w) Part 1. that even they were not without their Baptism and such a one as was moreover intended for the same general ends for which both their Circumcision was and our Baptism is So I have made it appear also (x) Ibid. that the persons so baptiz'd among them were accounted as persons new-born yea so far that after that time they were not to own any of their former relations In fine that that new birth was look'd upon as so singular that it gave occasion to their Cabalistical Doctors to teach that the old soul of the Baptized Proselyte vanished and a new one succeeded in its place For if this was the condition of that Type of Christian Baptism how much more of the Antitype thereof Especially when it is farther probable as hath been also (y) Part 2. noted from the discourse of our Saviour to Nicodemus that he both alluded in it to that Baptism of theirs and intimated the conformity of his own Baptism to it in that particular And though after so full an evidence of this relation of Baptism to regeneration it may seem hardly worth our while to alledge the expressions of the Heathen concerning it Yet I cannot forbear for the conformity thereof to the present argument to take notice of one remarkable one of Lucian (z) Lucian Philopatr p. 999. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who brings in one Triepho thus discoursing after his scoffing manner But when saith he that Galilean lighted upon me who had a bald Pate a great Nose who ascended up to the third Heaven and there learn'd the most excellent things meaning as is suppos'd S. Paul he renewed us by water made us to tread in the footsteps of the blessed and deliver'd us from the Regions of the ungodly In which passage under the title of renewing men by water he personates the Christian Doctrine concerning their being regenerated or renewed by Baptism and accordingly makes it the subject of his reproach PART VII Of our Union to the Church by Baptism The Contents Of the relation of the sign of Baptism to our Vnion to the Church and that relation shewn to be no less than that of a means whereby that Vnion is made This evidenc'd in the first place from the declarations of the Scripture more particularly from its affirming all Christians to be baptiz'd into that Body as those who were first baptiz'd after the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles to have been thereby added to their company and made partakers with the rest in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship in breaking of Bread and in Prayers The like evidence of the same Union to the Church by Baptism from the declarations of the Church it self and the consequences of that Vnion shewn to be such as to make that also to be accounted one of the inward and spiritual Graces of that Baptism by which it is made HAving thus given an account of such inward and spiritual Graces of Baptism as tend more immediately to our spiritual and eternal welfare It remains that I say somewhat of that which though of no such immediate tendency yet is not without all because qualifying us for the reception of the other That Vnion I mean which we thereby obtain to Christ's mystical body the Church and by which we who were before Aliens from it as well as from God and Christ become members of the Church and partakers of the several priviledges thereof Which Vnion if any Man scruple to reckon among the inward and spiritual Graces of Baptism properly so call'd I will not contend with him about it Provided he also allow of it as a thing signified by it on the part of God and Christ and as moreover a Grace and favour to the person on whom it is bestow'd For as that is all I ask at present concerning the Union now in question So what I farther mean by it's being an inward and spiritual Grace shall be clear'd in the process of this Discourse and receive that establishment which it requires In order whereunto I will shew the outward and visible sign of Baptism to be a means whereby that Union is made and then point out the consequences of that Union That the outward visible sign of Baptism is in the nature of a means whereby we are united to the Church will appear if we reflect upon what the Scripture hath said concerning it or the agreeing declarations of the Church it self For what else to begin with the former can S. Paul * 1 Cor. 12.13 be thought to mean where he affirms all whether Jews or Gentiles or of what ever other outward differences to have been baptiz'd by one spirit into one body For as it is plain from the foregoing †1 Cor. 12.12 verse or verses that S. Paul entreats of Christ's Body the Church and consequently that the baptizing here spoken of must be meant of our Baptizing into it So it is alike plain from what it was designed to prove as well as from the natural force of the expression that it was set to denote also our being united to it thereby For as we cannot impose a more natural sense upon Baptized into that body than our being receiv'd by Baptism into it as the Baptized person is within the water and conseqently some way united to it So much less if we consider what it was intended to prove even * 1 Cor. 12.12 that Christians how many soever are but that one body For how doth their being baptiz'd into it prove them to be that one Body but that that visible sign by which they are so unites them to one another and to the whole A meer sign of Union though it may shew what the partakers thereof ought to be yet being no just proof of what they are and much less as S. Paul seems to argue that they are so by the means of it And indeed as it will therefore be hard to make the sign here spoken of to be any thing less than a means of our Union to the Church So especially if we consider what is elsewhere said concerning those who first after the descent of the Holy Ghost were baptized in the name of Christ S. Luke not only affirming of those new baptiz'd ones that they were added to (a) Acts 2.41 the Apostles and their other company which he afterwards expresseth (b) Acts 2.47 by added to the Church but that they were partakers (c) Acts 2.42 with the rest in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in Prayers For this shews their having an interest in all the priviledges of that Body and therefore much more their being united to it But so it appears that the Antient Church esteemed of it whose determination is
of the more force because it is only about the supposed means of Union to its own Body Justin Martyr after he had spoken of the baptizing of such as offer'd themselves to the Christian Church which he himself expresseth when so baptiz'd by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or conjoyned with themselves affirming that they were immediately brought where the brethren were assembled there to partake with them of the common Prayers that were then offer'd up of the kiss of peace and of the Lord's Supper Which last particular I have the more confidently represented the new baptized persons as then admitted to because the same Father doth not only make no distinction between them and the other brethren in it though he subjoyns the business of the Eucharist to the former Prayers and kiss of peace but affirms the same Eucharist presently after to be lawful to none to partake of but those that believ'd their Doctrine receiv'd the laver of regeneration and liv'd as Christ delivered For as he intimates thereby the admission of those that believ'd and were baptiz'd if they were also such as liv'd as Christ deliver'd which the new baptized were in reason to be accounted till they had given proof to the contrary So there is reason to believe from the use of Excommunication in the Church that that addition of living as Christ deliver'd was not made to bar the new baptized from it till they gave farther proof of such a life but to intimate the exclusion of those who after they had been admitted to it liv'd otherwise than Christianity prescrib'd So making the persons excluded the unbaptiz'd or ill living Christians and consequently the contrary thereto admitted I deny not indeed that the Rite of Confirmation did very antiently come between the receiving of Baptism and the Eucharist I deny not farther because of what was before (d) Expl. of the Sacrament in general Part 4. quoted from Justin Martyr concerning the particular Prayer that was made for the new baptized person that the substance thereof was then in use even prayer for grace for him to live as he had but now profess'd But as the design of Confirmation appears to have been to procure for the new baptiz'd a more plentiful effusion of God's Graces which is no intimation at all of his having been before no perfect Christian or not perfectly united to the Church so Baptism may for all that be look'd upon as the means of our Union to the Church which is all that I have taken upon me to assert For the farther evidencing whereof I will in the next place alledge a passage of Tertullian (e) De Bapt. c. 6. which will though not so directly prove the same thing That I mean where he saith that when the profession of our faith and sponsion of our salvation are pledged under the three witnesses before spoken of there is necessarily added thereto the mention of the Church because where those three are even the Father Son and Holy Ghost there is also the Church which is the body of the Three For as it is evident from thence that Men were even from his time baptiz'd expresly into the belief of the Church as well as into the belief of the Trinity So it will not be difficult to inferr that they were also baptiz'd into the unity thereof and made members of the Church by it Because as he affirms the Trinity to become Sponsors of our Salvation in Baptism as well as either Witnesses or objects of our Profession So he affirms those Sponsors to be as it were emboyed in the Church and consequently to exert their saving influences within it which supposeth Men's being united to it by Baptism in order to their partaking of the salutariness of the other And indeed though in that form which our Saviour prescrib'd (f) Matt 28.19 for Baptism there is mention only of baptizing in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost yet inasmuch as he prescrib'd that very form for the making of Disciples (g) Ibid. by he must consequently be suppos'd to propose it for the aggregating them to that body which he had already begun to frame and making them alike members of it There being therefore no doubt to be made of the outward visible sign of Baptism being a means of our Vnion to Christ's mystical body the Church it may not be amiss if it were only to manifest the great advantages thereof as to that particular to shew the consequences of that Vnion Which we shall find in the general to be a right to all those priviledges which Christ hath purchas'd for it More particularly to the partaking of its Sacred Offices and in and through the means of them of those inward and spiritual Graces which those Sacred Offices were intended to procure or convey For every member of a Society being by that membership of his entituled to all the priviledges that belong to it as such He who becomes a member of Christ's Body the Church as every Man who is united to it by Baptism doth must in his proportion be entituled to all those priviledges which Christ hath purchas'd for it and particularly to the priviledge of partaking of its sacred Offices and in and by the means of them of those inward and spiritual Graces which those sacred Offices were intended to procure or convey Which how great a commendation it is of our Vnion to that Body and consequently of that Baptism by which it was made will need no other proof than the Scripture's assuring us that Christ is the Saviour (h) Eph. 5.23 of that Body and the promises it makes to those Prayers (i) Matt. 18.19 20. that are made by it and to that Euchrist (k) Matt. 26.26 c. which is administred in it The purport of those promises being no other than the granting what is asked by it and particularly all those benefits which Christ's Body and Blood were intended for the procuring of And if these be as no doubt they are the consequences of our union to the Church by Baptism yea so far as I have elsewhere (l) Expl. of the Creed Art. of The forgiveness of sins shewn that they are not ordinarily to be attained out of it That very Union may not improperly be stil'd one of its inward and spiritual Graces because leading to those that are most strictly such and indeed the only ordinary means of obtaining them PART VIII Of the Profession that is made by the Baptized person The Contents The things signified by Baptism on the part of the baptized brought under consideration and shewn from several former discourses which are also pointed to to be an Abrenunciation of sin a present belief of the Doctrine of Christianity and particularly of the Trinity and a resolution for the time to come to continue in that belief and act agreeably to its Laws Our resolution of acting agreeably to the Laws of Christianity more particularly consider'd and
Ubi supra was by what the Prophet Ezekiel * Ezek. 36.25 brings in God as speaking concerning the times of the Messiah Even that he would sprinkle clean Water upon them and they should be clean from all their filthiness and from their Idols For as it appears from what follows (a) Ezek. 26 27. even that God would give the persons there spoken of a new heart and a new Spirit take away their stony heart from them and put his own spirit within them that this whole passage was spoken more particularly with reference to the times of the Messiah Maimonides himself (b) Explic. Tract Sanh c. 10. apud Pocock Port. Mosis p. 160.1 so applying this and the like passages So we cannot therefore better interpret the sprinkling of clean Water upon them in order to it than of the Water of Baptism and which the Spirit of God expressing by the term of sprinkling of Water shews it to have foreseen a necessity of its being so administred oftentimes and his own allowance of it All which things whosoever shall consider will I doubt not see reason enough to think that necessity may justifie an Aspersion in Baptism and nothing more therefore left to enquire upon this Head than what may be look'd upon as such a necessity which will bring the question yet nearer to our selves Now as there can be no doubt of sickness being such and particularly such a sickness as fastens Men to their Beds So we shall therefore have nothing more to consider of than the case of Infants and to whom as Baptism is generally administred so it is also perform'd by an effusion or sprinkling With what necessity is the thing we are to enquire and so much the rather because the Greek Church useth immersion or dipping to this very day and the Muscovitish Church after its example For if the coldness of any Clime may be thought to make that Rite dangerous to such tender Bodies one would think they of the latter should find it to be such and therefore see a necessity of changing it For the clearing whereof we are to know that as they who use the Rite of immersion even in warmer Countries are so sensible of the tenderness of Infant Bodies that they make use of warm Water to baptize them So the Muscovites making use of it without any danger if yet they always do so will not make it cease to be such to Infants of other Countries There being as every one knows no small difference between the Bodies of Infants as well as those of Men and to some of whom therefore and in some Countries that may be exceeding dangerous which Infants of other Countries find no such inconvenience by And indeed as such an Immersion of Infants especially in these Northern parts cannot generally be thought to be without its hazard how warily and carefully soever managed As it may be yet more hazardous to weaker Infants and whom as it would not be thought fit to deny Baptism to so as little to do any thing to send them out of the World so I am apt to believe upon second thoughts for I have elsewhere (c) Expl. of the Creed in the Words And Buried spoken more harshly concerning it that that Rite came to be disused here after a sufficient proof of the inconveniencies thereof Because as Erasmus notes (d) Vid. Pamel in not ad Cypr. epist ad Magnum it was in use among us even in his time and the Liturgies that have been in force since not excepting the present one seem rather to perswade the use of it For our Fore-fathers being so strangely tenacious of that Rite and both they and their posterity not without a venerable opinion of it it cannot well be thought they should come at length so generally to disuse it but that they found by experience that it was not without its hazard and so more prudently omitted However it be our Church hath acquitted it self from all blame because manifestly licensing (e) See the Rubr. of Bap◠before the Words I baptize thee c. the sprinkling of Infants with respect to the weakness of their State And I have the more carefully noted both that and the ground of our practice the better to defend our selves from a retort of the Romanists when we charge them with Sacrilege in the matter of the Eucharist for taking away the Cup from the Laity For why not as they sometime answer as well as change the Rite of Immersion in Baptism into that of sprinkling Especially when a great part of the Symbolicalness of that Sacrament lies in the manner of the application of its sign Which Answer of theirs were not in my opinion easie to be repel'd were it not that we have that necessity to justifie our practice which they cannot pretend for their own Having thus said enough concerning the applying of the outward sign of Baptism whether by an Immersion or Aspersion which was the first thing I had to consider Enquire we in the next place how often that application ought to be made that is to say whether as many times as there are persons in the God-head into which we baptize or once for all into the three The ground of which question is not only that distinct profession of the Trinity which Baptism was intended to declare but the appearance there is of the Churches using a threefold immersion from the beginning For not to mention any other proofs Tertullian who flourished within an hundred years after the last of the Apostles doth not only mention the threefold immersion as a thing in use in his time but as a thing which was derived to them from * Tert. de Coronâ c. 3. Ergo quaeramus an Traditio nisi scripta non debeat recipi Plane negabimus recipiendam si nulla exempla praejudicent aliarum observationum quas sim ullius scripturae instrumento solius traditionis titulo exinde consuetudinis Patrocinio vindicamus Denique ut à Baptismo ingrediar Aquam adituri ibidem sed aliquanto prius in Ecclesiâ sub Antistitis manu contestamur nos renunciare Diabolo pompae angelis ejus Dehine ter mergitamur amplius aliquid respondentes quà m Dominus in Evangelio determinavit Item adv Praxeam c. 26. Tradition and which considering the time wherein he liv'd cannot well fall short of an Apostolical one And thus much certainly ought to be allow'd to this and other testimonies that in or near the Apostolical Age the more fully to express that distinction of persons into the Faith of which Christ commanded to baptize Men were with the command or allowance of those who presided in the Church plunged into the Baptismal Water at the mention of each person's name But as that threefold immersion cannot be collected from the command of Christ because simply enjoyning to baptize into the Faith of the Trinity and which one immersion may declare as well as a threefold
the body of sin crucified with him For shall we say that S. Paul meant no more by all this than that the design of Baptism and the several parts of it was to represent to us the necessity of our dying and being buried as to sin and that accordingly all that are baptized into Christ make profession of their resolution so to do but not that they are indeed buried by Baptism as to that particular But beside that we are not lightly to depart from the propriety of the Scripture phrase which must be acknowledg'd rather to favour a real death than the bare signification of it That Apostle doth moreover affirm those whom he before describ'd as dead to be freed (d) Rom. 7.18 from sin yea so far (e) Rom. 7.18 as to have passed over into another service even that of righteousness and to have obeyed from the heart (f) Rom. 7.17 that form of Doctrine into which they had been delivered Which suppos'd as it may because the direct affirmation of S. Paul will make that death whereof we speak to be a death in reality as well as in figure and accordingly because Men are affirmed to be baptized into it shew that Baptism to be a means of conveying it as well as a representation of it Agreeable hereto or rather yet more express is that of the same Apostle to the Colossians (g) Col. 2.11 though varying a little from the other as to the manner of expression For having affirmed them through Christ to have put off the body of the sins of the flesh by a circumcision not made with hands and consequently by a spiritual one he yet adds lest any should fancy that spiritual Circumcision to accrue to them without some ceremonial one in the Circumcision of Christ even that Baptism which conformably to the circumcision of the Jews he had appointed for their entrance into his Religion by and wherein he accordingly affirms as he did in the former place that they were not only buried with him but had risen together with him by the faith of the operation of God who raised him from the dead From whence as it is clear that the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh which is but another expression for a death unto them is though accomplished by a spiritual Grace yet by such a one as is conveyed to us by Baptism so it becomes yet more clear by what he adds concerning Men's rising with him in the same Baptism even to a life contrary to what they had before deposited through the faith of the operation of God. For as we cannot conceive of that rising with Christ as other than a real one because there would not otherwise have needed such a faith as that to bring it about So neither therefore but think the like of that death which it presupposeth and consequently that that Baptism to which it is annex'd is a means of conveying it as well as a representation of it But so we may be yet more convinc'd by such Texts of Scripture as speak of this death unto sin under the notion of a cleansing from it Of which nature is that so often alledged one (h) Eph. 5.26 27. concerning Christ's sanctifying and cleansing his Church with the washing of water by the word For as it appears from what is afterwards subjoyn'd as the end of that cleansing even that the Church might not have any spot or wrinkle but that it should be holy and without blemish As it appears I say from thence that the Apostle speaks in the verse before concerning a cleansing from the filth of sin which is but another expression for the putting off the body of sin or a death unto it So it appears in like manner from S. Paul's attributing that cleansing to the washing of water that the outward sign of Baptism is by the appointment and provision of God a means of conveying that spiritual Grace by which that cleansing is more immediately effected and that death unto sin procur'd From that death unto sin therefore pass we to our new birth unto righteousness that other inward and spiritual Grace of Baptism and the complement of the former A Grace of whose conveyance by Baptism we can much less doubt if we consider the language of the Scripture concerning it or the Doctrine as well as practice of the Church The opinion the Jews had of that which seems to have been its type and exemplar or the expressions even of the Heathen concerning it For what less can the Scripture be thought to mean when it affirms us to be born of the water (i) Joh. 3.5 of it as well as of the spirit yea so as to be as truly spirit (k) Joh. 3.6 as that which is born of the flesh is flesh What less can it be thought to mean when it entitles it the laver of (l) Tit. 3.5 Regeneration and which is more affirms us to be saved by it as well as by the renewing of the Holy Ghost What less when it requires us to look upon our selves as alive (m) Rom. 6.11 unto God by it as well as buried (n) Rom. 6.4 by it into the former death or as the same Apostle elsewhere expresseth it as risen with Christ in it (o) Col. 2.12 through the faith of the operation of God who raised him from the dead In fine what less when it affirms us to be sanctified with the washing (p) Eph. 5.26 of it as well as it elsewhere doth by the influences of God's Spirit For these expressions shew plainly enough that Baptism hath its share in the producing of this new birth as well as the efficacy of God's Spirit And consequently that it is at least the conveyer of that Grace by which it is more immediately produc'd And indeed as if men would come without prejudice they would soon see enough in those expressions to convince them of as much as I have deduced from them So they might see yet more if they pass'd so far in the doctrine and language of the Church to confirm them in that Interpretation of them For who ever even of the first and purest times spake in a lower strain concerning Baptism who ever made less of it than of a means by which we are regenerated I appeal for a proof hereof to their so unanimously (q) See Part 2. understanding of Baptism what our Saviour spake to Nicodemus concerning the necessity of men's being born again of water and of the spirit For as all men whatsoever interpret that of our new birth unto righteousness and so far as the spirit of God is concerned in it of the means by which it is produc'd So they must therefore believe that if the Antients understood it of Baptism they allotted that its share in it and consequently made it at least a conveyer of that Grace by which this new birth is produc'd I appeal farther to the particular declarations of
present state by casualties and diseases yea so far as to make the person forget his own name But though the Soul should be supposed to fall into such a forgetfulness by entring into a body as we see it is a long time before it comes to exercise its respective faculties yet is there any reason to think it should continue in it after it hath gotten above the infirmities of the other yea so far as to reason with that clearness wherewith this Author doth in many things and with great plausibility in all others For though Men may happen to be so stricken by a disease as to forget even their own names yea have undoubtedly suffered in that nature yet is there no evidence from story that I know of or indeed presumption for the supposition of it that though the parties did again recover the free use of their faculties yet they were unable to look back to their pristine state or call to mind any of the passages thereof So much more specious than strong are the reasons that Author alledgeth to shew the Soul to be in a natural incapacity to call to mind its pristin state and actions And yet if they prov'd what they intended they would hardly make it credible that it should be without all knowledge of them God who thrusts it down into its present state by reason of its former errours being likely enough to bring them to its mind though it should be otherwise ignorant of them Otherwise he should neither make it sensible of its own guilt and his choosing thus to punish it which is one supposed end of his thrusting it down nor careful to break off from it which is another And I shall only add that as we cannot therefore be in any great danger from those Objections which pretend to derive Original sin from another principle So shall we not now be much incommoded by the force of those Objections which profess more directly to impugn the derivation of it from Adam For as those Objections are principally founded upon the incompetency of Adam to involve all mankind in the guilt of his transgression so I have not only made it appear already that Adam was no way incompetent for that purpose because appointed by God as the representative of all mankind but said enough though not to answer yet to silence what is objected against it from the supposed want of our consent to his transgression Which will leave nothing more for us to do than to consider what is objected against the means we have before assign'd of the conveying of that Original Sin whereof we speak But as I have not been positive in assigning the particular means of its conveyance and must therefore be the less concern'd to answer what is objected against them So I shall oppose to all those Objections the assurance we have from the Scripture of our having it in us from our Conception and Birth yea contracting it from those fleshly and unclean persons from whom we are descended That as it is enough to shew that it is conveyed to us by the same general means by which our very nature is so making it at least probable that it passeth from them to us together with our Souls and from thence diffuseth it self unto our Bodies And how far a probability so founded ought to prevail against all the Arguments which are oppos'd to the traduction of Souls especially when the Scripture seems to favour that traduction also will be no hard matter for him to judge who shall consider on the one hand the shortness of our own reasonings and on the other what difficulties attend the Creation and Infusion as well as the traduction of Souls For as those very difficulties will oblige us to sit down after all with a probable assent in this affair so the shortness of our own reasonings to guide that assent rather by probable testimonies of Scripture than by probable arguments from Reason Because as we are more assur'd of the truth of those testimonies than we can be of the truth of any of those arguments which we ground our selves upon in this affair So we cannot so easily fail in our apprehensions concerning the other Nothing more being requir'd toward the apprehending the force of the former than the due consideration of the sense of the words wherein they are expressed whereas to the apprehending of the force of the latter we must have a clear knowledge of the nature of those things about which they are conversant which is certainly a matter of far greater difficulty and wherein therefore we may more easily mistake Only if what is said in this particular may not be thought to be satisfactory because rather a bar to what is objected against the traduction of Souls and consequently of Original Sin than any direct answer to it I shall desire those who are dissatisfi'd with it to give such an answer as they themselves demand to what is objected by the other party against the immediate Creation and infusion of them It seeming not so easie to imagine that I may not now press them with any other inconveniencies that God should create a Soul on purpose to infuse it into such incestuous conceptions as he himself cannot but be thought to abhor For my self as I can with equal ease digest the traduction of Souls with all its inconveniencies or rather acquiesce in that evidence which the Doctrine of the Scripture and the simple nature of a generation do seem to suggest So I shall hardly think it reasonable to quit it till they who assert the Creation of Souls free it from the former inconvenience and other such difficulties wherewith it is alike encumbred For till that be done the traduction of Souls will not only be of greater probability but serve more clearly to declare how that corruption which our first Parents contracted passed from them unto their Children and so on to succeding Generations PART IV. Of the things signified by Baptism on the part of God or its inward and spiritual Grace The Contents The things signified by Baptism are either more general or particular More general as that Covenant of Grace which passeth between God and Man and that body of Men which enter into Covenant with him More particular what the same God doth by vertue of that Covenant oblige himself to bestow upon the Baptized and what those Baptized ones do on their part undertake to perform These latter ones proposed to be considered and entrance made with the consideration of what God obligeth himself to bestow upon the Baptized called by the Church An inward and spiritual Grace Which inward and spiritual Grace is shewn to be of two sorts to wit such as tend more immediately to our spiritual and eternal welfare or such as only qualifie us for those Graces that do so To the former sort are reckon'd that inward and spiritual Grace which tends to free us from the guilt of sin called by the Church